FOIA News: OIP Publishes Summary of Annual FOIA Reports for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019

SUMMARY OF FISCAL YEAR 2019 ANNUAL FOIA REPORTS PUBLISHED

DOJ, FOIA Post, June 1, 2020

The Office of Information Policy (OIP) has released its Summary of Annual FOIA Reports for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019.  This summary of government-wide data serves as a comprehensive analysis of the federal government's FOIA activities during the previous fiscal year.  The annual summary looks at key statistics in FOIA administration and identifies trends in FOIA processing as compared to prior fiscal years.  The purpose of the summary is to serve as a resource to help both agencies and the public to gain an understanding of overall FOIA administration.

Read more here.

FOIA News: CDC seeking additional FOIA help

The Centers for Disease control issued a vacancy announcement today for two Government Information Specialists for 24-month appointments in Atlanta, Georgia “based on a critical hiring need resulting from the outbreak and spread of the ‘Coronavirus Disease 2019’ (COVID-19), which has caused a public health emergency.” The deadline to apply is June 11.

Court opinions issued May 29, 2020

Cvijanovich v. U.S. Secret Serv. (8th Cir.) (unpublished) -- summarily affirming district court’s decision granting summary judgment to agency concerning plaintiff’s request for records about himself.

NAACP Legal Def. & Educ. Fund. v. DOJ (S.D.N.Y.) -- finding that agency failed to demonstrate that it performed reasonable search for records concerning proposed inclusion of citizenship status question on 2020 decennial census.

Sai v. TSA (D.D.C.) -- on renewed summary judgment, concluding that: (1) agency demonstrated that it properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 3 and 5 (deliberative process privilege); (2) agency failed to demonstrate that it searched all reasonable locations or employed reasonable search terms and proper time frame; (3) agency was not required to organize records into discrete PDF files,but that agency failed to show how it would be unduly burdensome to create “irreversible redactions within fully digital, non-rasterized PDFs” outside of FOIAExpress program that agency typically used.

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

FOIA News: More on OIP's recent guidance

Justice Department Advises Agencies on Continuing to Meet FOIA Requests During the Pandemic

Watchdogs and journalists have been using FOIA to shed light on the federal government’s coronavirus actions.

By Courtney Buble. Gov’t Exec., May 29, 2020

The Justice Department is advising federal agencies to meet the challenge of processing Freedom of Information Act requests during the novel coronavirus pandemic in part through increased communication with those seeking information, use of technology and prioritization of requests.  

On Thursday, the Justice Department’s Office of Information Policy published guidance on how agencies should handle their FOIA operations during a time of “maximum telework and physical distancing policies” and delays for many in receiving physical mail. This comes as watchdogs, journalists and others have been relying on FOIA to learn about the government’s coronavirus response and hold officials accountable for protecting the public’s health. 

Read more here.

Court opinion issued May 27, 2020

Am. Immigration Council v. ICE (D.D.C.) -- concluding that: (1) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S Customs & Border Patrol improperly relied on Exemption 7(C) to withhold full birth dates of apprehended individuals, because agencies failed to show that disclosure of birth month and year of anonymous individuals could be used to identify them; (2) ICE did not perform adequate search for unique identifiers of apprehended individuals, and CBP improperly withheld unique identifiers pursuant to Exemption 7(E); (3) CBP properly relied on Exemption 7(E) to withhold locations where individuals were apprehended; and (4) ICE was not required to create a codebook or glossary of the terms and acronyms contained in responsive spreadsheets, but it was required to search for definitions within agency databases.

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

FOIA News: OIP issues COVID-19 guidance

NEW GUIDANCE ISSUED FOR AGENCY FOIA ADMINISTRATION IN LIGHT OF COVID-19 IMPACTS

DOJ, FOIA Post, May 28, 2020

Today the Office of Information Policy (OIP) issued guidance to agencies concerning their FOIA administration in light of the recent impacts of COVID-19.  Federal employees responsible for agency FOIA administration have faced a variety of challenges as a result of changes to workplace policies due to steps taken to protect the health and well-being of employees while continuing to fulfill their agencies' missions.  OIP's guidance encourages agencies to continuously assess their FOIA programs as circumstances evolve with a focus on finding workable solutions to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of their FOIA administration. 

Read more here.

See related article from Fed. News Network.

FOIA News: Plaintiffs accuse judge of bias toward IRS

Couple Wants Judge Ousted For Bias Toward IRS In FOIA Suit

Law360, May 27, 2020

A D.C. federal judge must recuse himself from a Freedom of Information Act case involving the Internal Revenue Service because he has favored the agency and disparaged the plaintiffs, a Texas couple told the court. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg has shown his bias for the IRS by stating that plaintiffs Thomas and Beth Montgomery ran a tax shelter and calling them “snitches” the couple said in a motion Tuesday to disqualify.

Read more here (accessible with free trial subscription).

Court opinions issued May 26, 2020

Citizens for Responsibility in Wash. v. DOJ (D.D.C) -- ruling that: (1) Office of Information Policy performed adequate search for records concerning a 2017 meeting with reporters to share private text messages sent during 2016 presidential campaign by two former FBI investigators on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team; and (2) OIP and Office of Inspector General properly withheld as “non-responsive” individual emails and texts from whole threads because conversations veered into unrelated topics, rejecting plaintiff’s argument that FOIA defines a “record” by the manner in which it is maintained by the agency.

Glawson v. EOUSA (D.D.C.) -- determining that EOUSA performed reasonable search for certain grand jury records pertaining to plaintiff’s criminal prosecution in 2008.

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

FOIA News: Government FOIA jobs available

• Dep’t of Health & Human Serv., Supervisory Gov’t Info. Specialist, Maryland (GS 15), closes May 27, 2020

• Dep’t of the Treasury, Supervisory Gov’t Info. Specialist, D.C. (GS 15), closes May 27, 2020

• Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, Gov’t Info. Specialist, D.C. (GS 13), closes May 27, 2020

• Pentagon Force Prot. Agency, Gov’t Info. Specialist, Virginia (GS 12-13), closes May 28, 2020

• Food & Drug Admin., Gov’t Info. Specialist, Location negotiable (GS 9-11), closes May 28, 2020

• Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, Gov’t Info. Specialist, Hawaii (GS 9), closes May 29, 2020

• Dep’t of Labor, Gov’t Info. Specialist, NJ & NY (GS 9), closes May 29, 2020

• Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, Gov’t Info. Specialist, Indiana, closes June 2, 2020

• Dep’t of State, Gov’t Info. Specialist, D.C. (GS 11-12), closes June 3, 2020

• Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, Gov’t Info. Specialist, Colorado (GS 12), June 3, 2020

• Dep’t of the Army, Gov’t Info. Specialist, Virginia (GS 13), closes June 5, 2020

• Dep’t of the Interior, Gov’t Info. Specialist, Louisiana (GS 9-110, closes June 5, 2020

• Def. Threat Reduction Agency, Gov’t Info. Specialist, Virginia (GS 13), closes June 8, 2020

• Veterans Health Admin., Gov’t Info. Specialist, North Carolina (GS 9), closes June 11, 2020

• Envtl. Prot. Agency, Attorney-Adviser, D.C. (GS 15), closes June 12, 2020

Court opinion issued May 25, 2020

Shem-Tov v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- finding that: (1) Interpol, U.S. National Central Bureau and the Department of Homeland Security performed adequate searches for records concerning their assistance to Israel’s criminal prosecution of plaintiff; (2) USNCB and DHS properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 7(C) and 7(E), but that government’s evidence and briefing was too sparse with respect to Exemption 7(D).

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