Pichardo-Martinez v. USMS (D.D.C.) -- finding that agency performed adequate search for records pertaining to plaintiff’s detainment and medical treatment and that it properly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 7(C) and 7(E).
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
Seife v. FDA (S.D.N.Y) -- concluding that FDA properly relied on Exemption 4 to withhold records pertaining to its accelerated approval of a muscular dystrophy drug; noting that statute’s foreseeable harm provision applied to Exemption 4 and was met in this case.
Yanofsky v. U.S. Dep't of Commerce (D.D.C.) -- deciding that agency did not sufficiently establish that it either provided plaintiff with requested data files or that it did not maintain those files.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
ANNOUNCING UPCOMING FOIA REPORTING DEADLINES
DOJ/OIP, FOIA Post, Oct. 7, 2020
October marks the end of Fiscal Year 2020 and the beginning of the FOIA reporting season. Today, the Office for Information Policy (OIP) is announcing the deadlines for the submission of agencies' Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA Reports, Fiscal Year 2021 Quarterly FOIA Reports, and 2021 Chief FOIA Officer Reports, along with updated resources.
These three reports serve a vital role in illustrating the steps taken and the progress made by agencies in administering the FOIA, and provide valuable information about how agencies promote efficiency, make more information available proactively, and use technology to improve FOIA administration.
Read more here.
The Department of Justice Office of Information Policy has published an updated list of statutes found to qualify under FOIA Exemption 3 as grounds for withholding.
Q. Can I make a request about the disbursement of monies donated to my church in New York? I suspect a cover up of waste, fraud, and financial abuse of a widow’s endowment.
A. New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) applies to government agencies, not to private entities.. Thus, your church would not be legally obligated to respond to your FOIL request. And unlike most tax-exempt organizations, churches generally are not required to file tax returns. So it is unclear to me how you would be able to access any of the church’s financial information from a government agency.
FDA Redactions Upheld in FOIA Suit for Drug Approval Documents
Maeve Allsup, Bloomberg Law, Oct. 6, 2020
Journalist sued for information on accelerated drug approval
High court ruling outlined requirements for confidential documents
The Food and Drug Administration correctly redacted documents regarding the approval of a drug based on a Supreme Court ruling regarding the application of the Freedom of Information Act, a federal judge in New York said Tuesday.
Charles Seife, a science writer and journalism professor sued the agency under FOIA in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking records related to the accelerated approval of eteplirsen, a drug created by Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. for the treatment of a rare neuromuscular disease.
Read more here (accessible with subscription).
Pub. Justice Found. v. Farm Service Agency (N.D. Cal.) -- determining that agency’s declarations were too conclusory to show that agency performed adequate search for records pertaining to its FOIA policies and directives.
Council on American-Islamic Relations v. U.S. Customs & Border Prot. (W.D. Wash.) -- ruling that: (1) agency failed to show that it conducted reasonable search for records pertaining to heightened screening instructions issued by Seattle Office in January 2020; (2) agency improperly relied on deliberative process privilege to withhold discussions of “public-facing” statement; (3) agency properly relied on Exemption 6 to withhold employee email addresses and names of lower-level officials, but was required to release names of two senior officials who implement policy at issue; (4) agency did not provide sufficient details to permit court to evaluate its Exemption 7(E) claim and ordering in camera review of disputed documents.
Bragg v. CIA (D.D.C.) -- dismissing suit because plaintiff failed to respond to government’s motion to dismiss on exhaustion grounds.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
OSHA Agrees to Pay $120,000 to Settle Employer Data FOIA Cases
By Bruce Rolfsen, Bloomberg Law, Oct. 2, 2020
Agency forced to release records in two cases
Agreement with plaintiff still needs court approval
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s failed court battle to prevent the public release of employers’ annual injury and illness reports could cost taxpayers $120,000, with another litigation bill expected in a similar case.
An Oct. 1 stipulation filed at an Oakland, California, U.S. court by Department of Labor and the Center for Investigative Reporting says the government has agreed to pay the nonprofit news organization $120,000 to cover litigation costs for two lawsuits against OSHA. Neither settlement has received court approval.
Read more here (accessible with subscription).
Peak v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- concluding that FBI performed reasonable search for DNA records pertaining plaintiff’s first-degree murder conviction.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
Public records requests fall victim to the coronavirus pandemic
By Nate Jones, Wash. Post, Oct. 1, 2020
With most government employees still working from home because of the coronavirus pandemic, the disclosure of public records by many federal agencies and local government offices nationwide has worsened or even ground to a halt.
When the pandemic was declared in early March, many employees at local, state and federal agencies abandoned their offices and began working remotely. Employees tasked with answering open-records requests have been forced to rely on telework computer systems that are often incompatible with the software used to process records requests.
Read more here.