FOIA News: OGIS Announces Date for Annual Open Meeting

Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) annual open meeting.

SUMMARY: We are announcing OGIS’s annual meeting, open to the public. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss OGIS’s reviews and reports and allow interested people to appear and present oral or written statements, in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

DATES: The meeting will be on Monday, July 20, 2020, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EDT. Please register no later than 11:59 p.m. EDT on Thursday, July 16, 2020.

Read more here.

Court opinion issued June 26, 2020

Von Chase v. BIA (D.D.C.) -- finding that: (1) Bureau of Indian Affairs conducted adequate search for records concerning plaintiff and properly redacted third-party information pursuant to Exemptions 6 and 7(C), issues that plaintiff conceded; (2) agency’s post-litigation release of records did not necessarily entitle plaintiff to litigation costs, because agency explained that end of post-conviction proceedings triggered release of records; (3) even if plaintiff were eligible for costs, he was not entitled to them because records conferred no benefit to the public and agency’s actions were reasonable.

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

FOIA News: ICYMI, five-year monthly litigation trends updated

May 2020 FOIA Litigation with Five-Year Monthly Trends

By FOIA Project Staff, June 17, 2020

During the month of May 2020 federal district courts saw a total of 70 new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits filed under 5 U.S.C. 552. To place this number in perspective, 70 new filings compares with a monthly average of 68 filings during the last 12 months. This month’s total brought overall FOIA filings on an annual basis for these last 12 months to 816.

Read more here.

Court opinion issued June 25, 2020

Lotero-Diaz v. USCIS (S.D. Fla.) -- ruling that: (1) plaintiff’s FOIA claim was moot because agency produced all responsive records, albeit after the litigation commenced, and (2) plaintiff was not entitled to relief under Administrative Procedure Act claim because FOIA provided adequate remedy.

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

Court opinion issued June 23, 2020

Freeman v. Fine (11th Cir.) (unpublished) -- summarily affirming district court’s decision that: (1) plaintiff’s FOIA claim was moot because Defense Department produced requested documents, and (2) FOIA did not provide plaintiff or court with authority to demand that agency investigate his whistleblower complaint.

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

FOIA News: ASAP announces annual training conference program

Today the American Society for Access Professionals released a preliminary program for its national training conference, which will take place virtually on July 28-29, 2020. Registration information is available here.

FOIA News: OIP Announces July Dates for Virtual FOIA Training

VIRTUAL FOIA TRAINING FOR AGENCY FOIA PROFESSIONALS – JULY COURSES NOW AVAILABLE

Office of Info. Policy FOIA Post, June 24, 2020

Today, the Office of Information Policy (OIP) announced dates for our new virtual FOIA training during the month of July. OIP offers a number of training opportunities throughout the year for agency FOIA professionals and individuals with FOIA responsibilities.  Due to COVID-19 and maximum telework, OIP is pleased to offer virtual training sessions that are taught in real-time by OIP instructors. 

Read more here.

FOIA News: Interior under fire for withholding public comments

When Public Comments Aren’t Public: Land Agency Holding Records

• BLM declines to publish many public ‘scoping’ comments

• Land agency FOIA backlog up to three years long

By Bobby Magill, Bloomberg News, June 24, 2020

Usually when public comments are filed with a federal agency, they are made, well, public. Not so for the Bureau of Land Management, which is demanding that in some cases, such comments only be obtained through the cumbersome Freedom of Information Act.

Critics say the BLM’s action is part of a pattern shaping up in the Interior Department over the past year or more of delaying or denying requests for basic information from journalists and the public.

Read more here.

FOIA News: CPPBSD finalizes changes to FOIA regs

The Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled is finalizing amendments to its FOIA regulations effective July 31, 2020, according to a final rule scheduled to be published in in the Federal Register on June 24, 2020. The Committee initially proposed the changes on May 21, 2019, and no public comments were submitted.

FOIA News: Gov't FOIA jobs available

• Dep’t of State, Lead Gov’t Info. Specialist (GS 13), D.C., closes June 23, 2020

• Dep’t of Agriculture, Gov’t Info. Specialist (GS 12-13), D.C., closes June 25, 2020

• Dev. Finance Corp., Gov’t Info. Specialist (GS 11), D.C., closes June 25, 2020

• Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, Gov’t Info. Specialist (GS 12), New Mexico, June 26, 2020

• Dep’t of the Army, Gov’t Info. Specialist (GS 12-12-13), Virginia, closes June 29, 2020

• Dep’t of the Interior, Gov’t Info Specialist (GS 13) Virginia, closes July 1, 2020

• Fed. Emergency Mgmt. Agency, Gov’t Info. Specialist (GS 9-11), D.C., closes July 1, 2020

• Food & Drug Admin, Lead Gov’t Info. Specialist (GS 14), Maryland, closes July 2, 2020

• U.S Customs & Border Prot., Supervisory Attorney-Advisor (GS 15), D.C., closes July 6, 2020