FOIA News: Second Circuit blocks access to firearms trace data; splits with Ninth Circuit

Gun Use in US Suicides Kept Secret With 2nd Circuit Ruling

By Nina Pullano, Courthouse News Serv., Dec. 23, 2020

The U.S. government need not release statistics on guns used in suicides or attempted suicides, the Second Circuit ruled Wednesday, reversing what had been a victory for gun-regulation advocates.

Seeking such information as part of a push to curb gun violence in America, the group Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund demanded that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives produce relevant records under the Freedom of Information Act. 

Demurring, however, the ATF argued that Congress had specifically blocked access to the Firearms Trace System database. The move centered on a series of amendments to the Consolidated Appropriations Acts of 2005, known as the Tiahrt Riders, first adopted in the early 2000s and updated in 2012. 

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Dec. 21, 2020

Rich v. USCIS (W.D. Wash.) -- denying plaintiff’s request for award of attorney fees because plaintiff failed to demonstrate that her lawsuit caused agency to release requested documents.

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

FOIA News: Drafter of original FOIA statute dies at 98

Mark Schlefer, who helped write FOIA legislation, dies at 98

By Louie Estrada, Wash. Post, Dec. 21, 2020

From a young age, maritime and shipping lawyer Mark P. Schlefer liked to challenge authority.

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His willingness to ask questions of people in power carried over to his professional life and led to his role in the development of the Freedom of Information Act, the landmark legislation providing citizens with a tool to keep the government open and honest.

Mr. Schlefer, a former Washington resident, died Nov. 2 at his home in Putney, Vt. The cause was cardiorespiratory arrest, said a daughter, Katharine Schlefer Dodge. He was 98.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Nominations for worst responses of 2020

The Electronic Frontier Foundation and MuckRock are accepting nominations for the seventh annual “Foilies,” which recognizes government agencies for their anti-transparent responses to public records requests. The deadline to submit nominations is January 8, 2020. See details here.

Court opinion issued Dec. 17, 2020

Nightingale. v. USCIS (N.D. Cal.) -- finding that USCIS, ICE, and DHS “have a pattern of unreasonable delay in responses to A-FIle FOIA requests,” and permanently enjoining defendants from failing to adhere to statutory deadlines for adjudicating A-File FOIA requests; further ordering defendants to make determinations on all A-File FOIA requests in backlog within 60 days.

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

FOIA News: OMB Finalizes Updated Fee Guidelines

The White House Office of Management and Budget published the final revisions to its government-wide FOIA fee guidlines in today’s issue of the Federal Register. The agency incorporated several changes proposed during the public comment period. The new guidelines are effective immediately.

Court opinion issued Dec. 14, 2020

S. Envtl. Law Ctr. v. CEQ (W.D. Va.) -- following in camera review, ruling that agency failed to meet statute’s “foreseeable harm” requirement, which agency asserted was a "foreseeable harm of chilling speech and stifling frank and open discussions" and a general "risk of public confusion."

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

FOIA News: NIH posts FOIA webinar

The National Institutes of Health’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare has released a 30-minute webinar on how NIH handles FOIA requests related to animal welfare. The discussion is hosted by OLAW Deputy Director Axel Wolff and NIH FOIA Program Officer Gorka Garcia-Malene.

FOIA News: Gov't FOIA jobs available

• Dep’t of Def., Sec’y, Gov’t Info. Specialist, GS-13, Virginia, closes Dec. 17, 2020

• Dep’t of the Air Force, Gov’t Info Specialist, GS-9, D.C., closes Dec. 17, 2020

• Social Sec. Admin., Gov’t Info. Specialist, GS-11, Maryland, closes Dec. 18, 2020

• Dep’t of Justice, Antitrust, Gov’t Info. Specialist, GS-9-11, D.C., closes Dec. 21, 2020

• Office of Personnel Mgmt., Supervisory Gov’t Info. Specialist, GS 15, D.C., closes Dec. 22, 2020

• Dep’t of Homeland Sec., FEMA, Gov’t Info, Specialist, IC 11-12, D.C., closes Dec. 23, 2020

• Dep’t of the Treasury/HQ, Supervisory Gov’t Info. Specialist, GS-14, D.C., closes Dec. 24, 2020

• Dep’t of the Interior/HQ, Gov’t Info. Specialist, GS-13, D.C., closes Dec. 24, 2020

FOIA News: FOIA Webinar on Dec. 14

Whistleblower Network News Hosts FOIA Webinar

By Ana Popovich, Whistleblower Network News, Dec. 11, 2020,

On December 14, 2020, Whistleblower Network News (WNN) will host a free webinar on how whistleblowers and journalists can use the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

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Whistleblower attorney Stephen M. Kohn of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto will lead the webinar. Kohn has filed thousands of FOIA requests and litigated many successful FOIA appeals over the last four decades

Read more here.