FOIA News: Navy rescinds FOIA regulations

The Department of the Navy published a final rule to eliminate its FOIA regulations in today's issue of the Federal Register.  Since February 6, 2018, DOD has eliminated the need for component-specific FOIA rules and instead has implemented a single departmental-wide regulation.  The Navy's rule is effective immediately.

FOIA News: Michael Lemov weighs in on the FOIA

The Freedom of Information Act at 52: New challenges to the people’s right to know

By Michael R. Lemov, The Hill, July 31, 2018

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) turned 52 years old on July Fourth this year. That birthday marked five decades of the Act’s effective use by citizens and the press to open up government files, force discovery of misinformation and expose outright lies.

FOIA is currently under attack through an almost secret war against public information. The current administration has embarked on a new level of opposition to open government. It is using new—and some old—tactics to avoid providing information to the public and the press

Read more here.

FOIA News: Government must search again for ICE raid records

Federal Judge Calls ICE, Homeland Security FOIA Response 'Inadequate'

The judge's order also includes words that the agencies are required to search for.

By R. Robin McDonald, Daily Report, July 30, 2018 

As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents rounded up dozens of families awaiting asylum in predawn New Year raids in 2016, they often gained entry by claiming they had criminal warrants.

But when attorneys with the Southern Poverty Law Center sought what should have been publicly available warrants and other information on the raids in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE refused to turn them over, prompting the SPLC to sue.

Read more here.

FOIA News: EOUSA hiring FOIA attorneys

The Department of Justice's Executive Office for United States Attorneys has issued a vacancy announcement for a full-time Freedom of Information Act attorney in Washington, D.C.  The salary range is 96,970 to $126,062 per year (GS 13).  The deadline to apply for the position is August 13, 2018.

Q&A: Attention Ponch and Jon

Q.  I submitted requests to the California Highway Patrol for video records and received the following response:  "As your request relates to item 2, the PRU has determined it possesses the record sought; however, your request does not describe an item which falls within the definition of public records pursuant to Government Code section 6254(e).  Moreover, assuming the item requested did constitute a public record, an exemption applies pursuant to government code section 6254(k) as it relates to Penal Code 1054 subdivision (e) and the record is being withheld." 

I have never encountered such a claim before, and despite a fair bit of research I don't understand what CHP is claiming. The video record is from a helicopter camera and it captures the end of a police chase. There is a ground-based dash camera video record capturing the same chase. CHP did not claim any exemptions for that video and they intend to release it.

A.  I have not found a California court decision that has considered an agency's use of Penal Code 1054(e), in conjunction with 6254(k), as the basis for withholding records requested under the Public Records Act.  For further assistance, you might wish to contact an attorney licensed in the State of California.  Although I cannot endorse any particular attorney or organization, I will note that the First Amendment Coalition, a non-profit organization in San Rafael, California, frequently fields questions about the PRA.   

Court opinions issued July 26, 2018

Butler v. DOL (D.D.C.) -- finding that Occupational Safety and Health Administration properly withheld records of accident investigation records pursuant to Exemptions 4, 7(C), and 7(D), except for portion of service agreement that did not contain "pricing and cost data." 

Doyle v. DHS (S.D.N.Y.) -- holding that: (1) government properly withheld records of visitors to White House because they are not subject to FOIA, per D.C. Circuit case law; (2) government performed adequate search for records of presidential visitors at Mar-a-Lago; and (3) government properly withheld records concerning President's schedule because they are not subject to FOIA, but was required to process "operational records" pertaining to Japanese Prime Minister's visit to Mar-a-Lago. 

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

FOIA News: MCC issues final FOIA regulations

The Millennium Challenge Corporation has issued a final rule amending its FOIA regulations, which appears in today's edition of the Federal Register.  The amended regulations, which are effectively immediately, address "electronically available documents, procedures for making requests, agency handling of requests, records not disclosed, changes in fees, and public reading rooms, as well as, other related provisions." 

FOIA News: OGIS Releases FOIA Compliance Self-Assessment Results

2017 FOIA Compliance Self-Assessment Survey Results Now Available

Nat'l Archives & Records Admin., FOIA Ombudsman, July 26, 2018

Yesterday we published our analysis and observations of FOIA compliance issues based on the responses to FOIA questions included in the 2017 Records Management Self-Assessment (RMSA). This report is the result of our continued collaboration with the Chief Records Officer (CRO) of the United States Government to gather government-wide information about FOIA policies and procedures. The 2017 survey responses further enhance our understanding of the critical relationship between strong records management and FOIA, add to observations about agency compliance noted in our agency compliance assessments, and explore issues about agency FOIA search practices raised by the FOIA Advisory Committee.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Homeland Security faces new FOIA lawsuit on border practices

DHS, CBP Hit With FOIA Suit Over 'Zero Tolerance' Policy

McCord Pagan, Law360, July 26, 2018

An open government nonprofit asked a D.C. federal court Wednesday to force the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to hand over documents about how they are enforcing a “zero tolerance” prosecution policy at the border, saying the agencies have largely ignored its Freedom of Information Act request.

Read more here (subscription required).

FOIA News: White House visitor logs off limits, court rules

Judge won't order disclosure of Trump White House visitor logs

By Josh Gerstein, Politico, July 26, 2018

A federal judge has rejected a bid by several public interest groups to force release of a broad set of logs of visitors to the Trump White House.

In a ruling Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Failla declined to depart from a 2013 federal appeals court decision that found visitor records for the Obama White House were not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

Read more here.