Q&A: Is something rotten in the state of California?

Q.  I formally requested copies of a [California] city's  bank reconciliations and the City sent the following response:  "The City has located responsive documents, but they are exempt from disclosure under California Government Code 6255.” No other explanation was given.  Since these are public taxpayer funds subject to full transparency, and the potential for embezzlement could be in the millions of dollars, can you please explain why this information would be exempt?

A.   Section 6255 of the California Government Code is a “catchall” exemption that agencies may rely upon when they can show that the public interest in nondisclosure clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure.  The following guidance from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press explains Section 6255 in more detail.  The League of California Cities also has issued guidance on the Public Records Act (including Section 6255) that might be instructive.  

FOIA News: 2nd Circ. Says Drone Strike FOIA Ruling Reveals Too Much

2nd Circ. Says Drone Strike FOIA Ruling Reveals Too Much

By Daniel Wilson, Law360, July 5, 2018

A New York federal court must keep under wraps certain information about targeted drone strikes abroad, the Second Circuit said Thursday, ruling the district court did not have to decide whether the federal government had officially acknowledged a disputed fact because it had no bearing on the disclosure of documents.

Read more here (subscription). 

Copy of decision available here.

FOIA News: IRS Can't Dodge FOIA Request About Islamic Charity

IRS Can't Dodge FOIA Request About Islamic Charity

By David Hansen, Law360, July 5, 2018

A D.C. federal judge has rejected the Internal Revenue Service’s bid to toss a Freedom of Information Act request for communications about an Islamic charity, saying the IRS must look for the records and present evidence that the information is confidential.

The IRS had argued that it could not comply with the request for communications with other government agencies relating to Islamic Relief USA because the information sought was for protected “return information” for a third party, which had not authorized it.

Read more here (subscription).

Copy of decision available here.

Court opinions issued July 3, 2018

Powell v. U.S. Dep't of Treasury (D.D.C.) -- concluding that Office of Foreign Assets Control performed reasonable search for records pertaining to plaintiff over thirty-year period.

Middle Eastern Forum v. U.S. Dep't of the Treasury (D D.C.) -- holding that IRS improperly refused to search for third-party records, noting that plaintiff's request sought only "non-return" information and that it was reasonably described.

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 available here.   

Court opinions issued June 29-30, 2018

June 30, 2018

Braun v. USPS (D.D.C.) -- finding that agency performed reasonable searches for investigatory records concerning plaintiff and that agency properly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 3, 6, and 7(C).

June 29, 2018

N.Y. Times v. CIA (S.D.N.Y.) -- ruling that CIA properly relied on Exemption 1 and 3 in refusing to confirm or deny existence of records concerning program to arm Syrian rebels, and that public statements by President Trump and U.S. Army general did not constitute official acknowledgments of program.   

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 available here.    

FOIA News: MuckRock on FOIAonline 3.0

On FOIA’s birthday, FOIAonline goes dark for a bit - here’s our plan

By Michael Morisy, MuckRock, July 3, 2018

The team behind FOIAonline has been hard at work on “FOIAonline 3.0,” an upgraded version of the federal government’s official FOIA portal. It looks like that work is about to pay off: FOIAonline’s banner indicates that the new site will launch July 9. But there’s a catch: From July 3rd until that launch, FOIAonline will be completely down.

Yup, that means that on FOIA’s 52nd birthday, FOIAonline will be getting a facelift.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Postal Regulatory Commission amends rules concerning non-public information

The Postal Regulatory Commission issued a final rule today pertaining to the agency's treatment of non-public information.  The agency proposed the new rules in February 2018 and received three public comments.  

FOIA News: Judge: Trump tweet did not declassify CIA program for Syrian rebels

Judge: Trump tweet did not declassify CIA program for Syrian rebels

By Josh Gerstein, Politico, July 2, 2018

A tweet from President Donald Trump disputing aspects of a news report about a CIA program to aid Syrian rebels did not declassify the program or undermine the government’s legal authority to keep details about it secret, a federal judge ruled in an opinion released Monday.

U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Carter Jr. rejected arguments that Trump effectively confirmed the existence of the program when he used his Twitter account last July to counter a Washington Post story that reported Trump’s decision to end the effort and suggested that the move was a concession to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The Amazon Washington Post fabricated the facts on my ending massive, dangerous, and wasteful payments to Syrian rebels fighting Assad,” Trump wrote, referring to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

...

Armed with Trump’s statements, The New York Times filed a Freedom of Information Act request demanding details of the program, then sued when the CIA did not immediately respond.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued June 27, 2018

LAF v. Dep't of Veterans Affairs (N.D. Ill.) -- holding that plaintiff adequately pled that agency has unlawful practice of processing first-party requests for veterans claims files solely under Privacy Act.

Am. Civil Liberties Union v. DOD (S.D.N.Y.) -- ruling that White House press secretary's public statements precluded CIA from refusing to confirm or deny existence of certain records concerning government raid in Yemen.  

Heffernan v. HHS (D.D.C.) -- determining that agency did not show that it performed reasonable searches for two of four categories of records concerning NIH's Department of Spiritual Ministry, and that agency adequately justified its use of Exemption 5 (deliberative process privilege) to withhold all disputed records except for draft press release.

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 available here.    

Court opinion issued June 26, 2018

Shapiro v. DOJ (D.C. Cir.) -- affirming district court's decision that FBI properly withheld records pertaining to deceased Internet activist Aaron Swartz pursuant to Exemptions 3, 6, 7(C), and 7(E), but remanding portion of case pertaining to redacted records disclosed to plaintiff following appellate oral arguments.  

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 available here.