FOIA News: OIP updates FOIA Guide

On August 20, 2021, the Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy posted an updated version of the Procedural Requirements section of the Guide to the Freedom of Information Act.

FOIA News: OGIS assessment of first-party requests

On August 30, 2021, the Office of Government Information Services released an assessment of “common categories of records requested frequently under the FOIA and/or Privacy Act by – or on behalf of – individuals seeking records about themselves.” In sum, OGIS recommended that agencies “examine closely all of the records that they generate, collect and/or maintain and seek creative ways to provide non-FOIA access to first-party records when possible.” It also recommended that “agencies use their websites to explain, in plain language, the steps requesters should take to obtain access to first-party records.”

FOIA News: Reporters Committee on Recent DC Circuit Decisions

DC Circuit issues two notable FOIA decisions

By Gabe Rottman, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Aug. 30, 2021

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued decisions in two cases involving the government’s withholding of records or information under the Freedom of Information Act. While the government’s asserted rationale for withholding in each of the two cases differed, in both instances the appellate court affirmed holdings in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia finding that the information in question could be withheld.

In the first of the decisions, issued last Tuesday, the appellate court upheld the National Security Agency’s withholding of a 2017 memorandum memorializing a conversation between former President Donald Trump and NSA Director Michael Rogers in a FOIA lawsuit brought by Protect Democracy. The court found the memo properly withheld under the FOIA exemption incorporating executive privilege, and refused to recognize a “misconduct” exception advanced by plaintiffs.

Read more here.

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.