Court opinion issued August 21, 2019

Am. Civil Liberties Union v. DOD. (D. Mont.) -- determining that: (1) Army Corps of Engineers failed to perform adequate search for records concerning anticipated protests at Keystone XL pipeline and that if failed to justify withholdings pursuant to Exemptions 5 and 7(A); (2) Bureau of Land Management properly withheld information pursuant to attorney-client privilege, but failed to justify deliberative process privilege withholdings ; and (3) FBI properly refused to confirm or deny existence of records pursuant to Exemption 7(A).

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

Court opinion issued Aug. 20, 2019

Smith v. CIA (D.D.C.) -- vacating its earlier opinion and finding that CIA properly refused to confirm or deny existence of intelligence budget, specifically line items supporting Israel from 1990 through 2015.

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

FOIA News: FOIA & Privacy Act training in Chicago, Sept. 4-Sept. 6

The American Society of Access Professionals will host a three-day FOIA and Privacy Act training workshop in Chicago from September 4 to September 6. Program and registration information is available here.

[Note: FOIA Advisor’s Ryan Mulvey will be an ASAP panelist for multiple workshop sessions]

Court opinions issued Aug. 19, 2019

Prop. of People, Inc. v. OMB (D.D.C.) -- ruling that OMB properly withheld calendar entries related to National Security Council meetings pursuant to presidential communications privilege of Exemption 5.

Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund v. ATF (S.D.N.Y) -- holding that: (1) appropriations rider prohibiting expenditure of funds to release firearms trace information in response to FOIA requests does not qualify as Exemption 3 statute because it does not cite that statutory provision as required by 2009 FOIA amendments; and (2) request for various statistical information concerning firearms used in suicides or attempted suicides would not require creation of new records.

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

FOIA News: Pentagon and Lockheed cite Argus Leader to protect contracts

DOD, Lockheed Want FOIA Bid Blocked After High Court Case

Law360, Aug. 19, 2019

A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling should block an advocacy group’s Freedom of Information Act for documents the group claims demonstrate the U.S. Department of Defense is skirting small business requirements, the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin told a California court.

Read more here (accessible with free trial subscription).

FOIA News: ICYMI, FOIA Advisory Committee Hearing Scheduled for September 5, 2019

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advisory Committee; Meeting

Nat’l Archives & Records Admin., Federal Register, Aug, 12, 2019

SUMMARY:

We are announcing an upcoming Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advisory Committee meeting in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the second United States Open Government National Action Plan.

DATES:

The meeting will be on September 5, 2019, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EDT. You must register for the meeting by midnight EDT September 2, 2019.

ADDRESSES:

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); 700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW; William G. McGowan Theater; Washington, DC 20408.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kirsten Mitchell, Designated Federal Officer for this committee, by mail at National Archives and Records Administration, Office of Government Information Services, 8601 Adelphi Road—OGIS; College Park, MD 20740-6001, by telephone at 202-741-5770, or by email at foia-advisory-committee@nara.gov.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued Aug. 15, 2019

Humane Soc'y Int'l v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Serv. (D.D.C.) -- concluding that: (1) names of names of individual wildlife importers and exporters were properly withheld pursuant to Exemption 7(C); and (2) parties were required readdress whether disputed information was properly withheld under Exemption 4 in light of Supreme Court’s recent decision invalidating National Parks test.

Behar v. DHS (S.D.N.Y.) -- determining that U.S. Secret Service Service properly relied on Exemption 7(C) to withhold names of law enforcement personnel from records concerning Donald Trump’s meetings as presidential candidate and as president-elect, but that declarations did not sufficiently address privacy interests of other third parties.

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

Court opinion issued Aug. 14, 2019

The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs (D. Conn.) -- ruling that agency improperly relied on Exemption 6 to redact names of subject matter experts working on disability claims pertaining to contaminated water at Marine base Camp Lejune,

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

Court opinions issued Aug. 13, 2019

Higgs v. U.S. Park Police (7th Cir.) -- reversing district court’s decision that FBI did not justify its use of Exemption 7(C) to withhold records about third parties involved in plaintiff’s triple-murder conviction . The Seventh Circuit found that even though record was not fully developed as to varying interests of third parties, plaintiff’s public interest arguments -- namely that disclosure would reveal government misconduct and educate public about DOJ’s execution of its law-enforcement duties - - could not not overcome those privacy interests.

N.Y. Legal Assistance Grp.. v. Bd. of Immigration Appeals (S.D.N.Y.) -- holding that neither FOIA nor Administrative Procedure Act permitted the court to order agency to publish requested material in electronic reading room.

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

FOIA News: 9th Circuit affirms that animals are not "individuals" under FOIA

Animals Aren't "Individuals" for Freedom of Information Act Purposes

By Eugene Volkh, Volkh Conspiracy 8/13/2019

In yesterday's Ninth Circuit decision in Animal Legal Defense Fund v. U.S. Dep't of Agriculture, the ALDF had asked that a Freedom of Information Act request be expedited; the statute calls for such expedited processing when "failure to obtain requested records on an expedited basis … could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual." The request, though, had to do with the health of Tony the Tiger (no, not the Frosted Flakes one):

Read more here.