FOIA News: FOIA conference on Sept. 16, 2021

The Digital Government Institute will be hosting a two-hour virtual conference on the FOIA on September 16, 2021. Among the speakers will be officials from the Government Accountability Office and the National Archives and Records Administration. Here are the links to the conference agenda and the registration page.

Court opinion issued Aug. 27, 2021

Knight First Amendment Inst. at Columbia Univ. v. CIA (D.C. Cir.) -- affirming district court’s decision that four intelligence agencies properly relied on Exemption 1 in refusing to confirm or deny the existence of certain records pertaining to Jamal Khashoggi. In reaching its decision, the Court rejected the appellant’s primary argument that Glomar responses were precluded by official statements made by a State Department spokesperson.

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

FOIA News: Mine Safety commission will amend FOIA regulations

The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission is proposing to update its FOIA regulations, as set forth in a notice scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on August 30, 2021. The public comment period is open through September 29, 2021.

Court opinion issued Aug. 26, 2021

Marino v. DEA (D.D.C.) -- finding that agency conducted adequate search for records concerning third party, timely invoked exemptions to withhold certain records, and released all reasonably segregable, non-exempt records

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

Court opinion issued Aug. 25, 2021

N.Y. Times v. DOD (S.D.N.Y.) -- concluding that DOD properly relied on Exemptions 1, 3, 5, 6, 7(C), and 7(E) to redact portions of a report concerning thee removal of Rear Admiral John Ring from his position as Commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay.

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

FOIA News: EOIR launches FOIA request portal

EOIR Launches FOIA Public Access Link

U.S Dep’t of Justice, Justice News, Aug. 25, 2021

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) has launched its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Public Access Link (PAL), a new online portal that streamlines records requests for parties with business before the agency and members of the public seeking records.

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Aug. 24, 2021

Prot. Democracy Proj. v. NSA (D.C. Cir.) -- affirming district court’s decision that NSA properly relied on Exemption 5’s presidential communications privilege to withhold in its entirety a memo documenting a telephone call between the NSA Director and President Trump, rejecting plaintiff’s arguments that the privilege was subject to FOIA’s segregability requirement and waived by disclosures in the Mueller Report.

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

FOIA News: Ninth Circuit shields the NRC from premature lawsuit

9th Circ. Tosses FOIA Suit Seeking Nuclear Energy Plant Docs

Law360, Aug. 24, 2021 -- The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court's string of decisions in favor of the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Freedom of Information Act lawsuits over an incident at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, holding that the lawsuits were filed prematurely. In a 15-page published opinion, a three-judge panel found on Monday that a lower court got it right when it determined that attorney Michael Aguirre failed to exhaust all remedies at hand in his records pursuit before suing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission a number of times. The panel noted in an issue of first impression for the circuit that those requesting. . .

Read more here (accessible with free trial subscription).

See the post below for a copy of the opinion.

Court opinion issued August 23, 2021

Aguirre v. NRC (9th Cir.) -- affirming district court’s decision that plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies with respect to his four requests concerning the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, and notably joining other circuits in holding that “a requestor must exhaust his administrative remedies under FOIA so long as an agency properly responds before suit is filed.”

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

FOIA News: SEC amends FOIA regulations

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a final rule on August 23, 2021, which removes a regulatory requirement to provide a computer terminal in the Commission’s Public Reference Room for persons who cannot access electronic records that the agency proactively publishes pursuant to FOIA.