FOIA News: AAG Vanita Gupta addresses Chief FOIA Officers Council

Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta Delivers Remarks at the Chief FOIA Officers Council Meeting

DOJ, Justice News, Nov. 17, 2021

Good morning and thank you for joining us for today’s Chief FOIA Officers Council meeting. On behalf of the Department of Justice, I would like to welcome all the Chief FOIA Officers and agency FOIA officials to our Fall FOIA Officer Council meeting. I also want to welcome the members of the public joining us today.

At the Department of Justice, we take very seriously our responsibility of transparency and accountability through faithful compliance with the Freedom of Information Act. In his first week in office, Attorney General Garland recognized the importance of the mission of FOIA at the Department of Justice’s Annual Sunshine Week Event. The Attorney General noted that, “without accountability, democracy is impossible. And democratic accountability requires the kind of transparency that the FOIA make

Read more here.

FOIA News: ABA conference to include FOIA panel

The American Bar Association’s 2021 administrative law conference will include a FOIA panel on November 18, 2021. The speakers will be Margaret Kwoka, Professor, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University; Bobak Talebian, Director, Office of Information Policy, U.S. Department of Justice; Nikhel Sus, Senior Counsel Complaints & Litigation, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington; and Danielle Schulkin, Attorney Advisor, Administrative Conference of the United States. The virtual live program will run from 10:45am to 12:15 pm. Registration information is available here.

Court opinions issued Nov. 10, 2021

Nat’ l Pub. Radio v. U.S. Central Command (S.D. Cal.) -- finding that plaintiff’s lawsuit concerning the First Battle of Fallujah in 2004 was not substantially similar to lawsuit filed earlier in Northern District of California and denying government’s motion to dismiss.

Am. Ctr. for Law & Justice v. DHS (D.D.C.) -- dismissing case after concluding that plaintiff’s request “referencing or regarding in any way” eight “broadly defined immigration-related subject areas” was not reasonably described.

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

FOIA News: FOIAonline is offline

The federal government’s FOIA portal FOIAonline is offline for scheduled maintenance until Monday, November 15, 2021.

Court opinions issued Nov. 8, 2021

Reporters Comm. for Freedom of Press v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- ruling that: (1) EOUSA, FBI, and the Criminal Division failed to perform adequate searches for records pertaining to Bryan Carmody; and (2) FBI properly relied on Exemption 7(C) to withhold name of one agent who questioned Mr. Carmody, but that name of second agency was in the public domain and could not be withheld.

Mitchell v. U.S. Dep't of Veterans Affairs (S.D.N.Y.) -- finding that agency performed adequate search for records concerning insurance benefits of plaintiff’s grandfather and that it properly withheld certain records pursuant to Exemption 6.

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

FOIA News: Chief FOIA Officers Council to meet Nov. 17th

The Chief FOIA Officers Council will meet virtually on November 17, 2021, from 10 am to 12:30pm. Registration information is available here.

Court opinions issued Nov. 5, 2021

Donato v. EOUSA (D.D.C.) -- denying plaintiff’s motion to reconsider court’s decision that FBI properly relied on Exemption 7(C) in confirming to confirm or deny existence of records about investigation of third party.

Parker v. U.S. Probation Office (S.D. Cal.) -- dismissing complaint against U.S. Probation Office and federal probation officers because all are arms of the federal court and therefore not agencies subject to FOIA.

Homes-Hamilton v. FBI (D. Md.) -- ordering claims to be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia because one of three plaintiffs did not reside or have principal place of business in Maryland and judicial efficiency warranted all claims remaining together.

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

FOIA News: Senators propose to extend FOIA to private prisons

CARDIN, LEAHY, RASKIN INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO IMPROVE TRANSPARENCY FOR PRISONERS AND DETAINEES IN PRIVATE FACILITIES

Press Release, Office of U.S Senator Jamie Raskin, Nov. 4, 2021

U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) today introduced legislation to require that government agencies comply with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests relating to private prisons, jails or detention facilities, including immigration detention facilities. The Private Prison Information Act (S. 3164/H.R. 5853) is essential for holding detention facilities accountable.

See more here.

FOIA News: CRS releases report on FY 2020 FOIA stats

Pandemic Increased Backlog of FOIA Cases, Report Says

By FEDweek, Nov. 1, 2021

The pandemic contributed to an increase in the backlog of Freedom of Information Act requests pending in federal agencies, the Congressional Research Service has said.

The backlog of requests that have not received an initial agency response within the law’s timeframes rose from about 120,000 to about 142,000 from fiscal 2019 to 2020, while the pending backlog of appeals of denials remained about flat at about 5,100.

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Oct. 28, 2021

Oram v. Wilkie (W.D. Wash.) -- ruling that the Department of Veterans Affairs performed adequate search for records concerning plaintiff and properly withheld third-party information pursuant to Exemption 6, and that plaintiff failed to establish elements of a pattern-or-practice claim.

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