Court opinions issued Nov. 24, 2021

Am. Civil Liberties Union v. CIA (D.D.C.) -- in case concerning the names of current or former government employees who had been granting exemptions from prepublication process, ruling that CIA properly withheld certain names pursuant to Exemptions 1 and 3 but not Exemption 6.

Nat'l Pub. Radio v. Int'l Dev. Fin. Corp. (C.D. Cal.) -- ruling that: (1) agency improperly relied on the deliberative privilege process to withhold three categories of records concerning proposed $756 million loan to the Eastman Kodak, noting that the record constituted public messaging, not substantive policy decisions; and (2) two of three remaining disputed emails fell within the deliberative process and met the foreseeable harm standard.

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

FOIA News: Derivative public benefits should be weighed in FOIA, asserts law student

The University of Virginia’s law review has published a Note that argues that “courts must consider derivative benefits as part of the public interest” when employing Exemptions 6 and 7(C) of the FOIA. Read the article here.

FOIA News: The FAA accidentally disclosed more than 2,000 flight records associated with Jeffrey Epstein's private jets

The FAA accidentally disclosed more than 2,000 flight records associated with Jeffrey Epstein's private jets

By Angela Wang, Business Insider, Nov. 29, 2021

Insider requested all flight-history data associated with four planes owned by Jeffrey Epstein. The FAA rejected the request but later provided the records in response to an unrelated request. The new FAA records include hundreds of previously unknown flights made by Epstein's jets.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued Nov. 19, 2021

Am. Civil Liberties Union v. DHS (S.D.N.Y.) -- finding that government’s proposed processing rate of 500 pages monthly was reasonable and ordering DHS to refer plaintiff’s request to two components that might have potentially responsive records.

Chavis v. EOUSA (D.D.C.) -- on renewed summary judgment, ruling that EOUSA performed adequate search for records pertaining to plaintiff’s criminal case and that Exemption 5 issue was moot because agency released disputed records.

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

Court opinion issued Nov. 18, 2021

Buckley v. DOJ (W.D.N.Y.) -- ruling that: (1) FBI performed reasonable search for records concerning plaintiff and third parties, (2) FBI failed to provide enough information to justify withholding records pursuant to Exemption 3 in conjunction with the Pen Register Act; (3) FBI properly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 7(C), 7(D), and 7(F).

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

FOIA News: FDA asks court for 55 years to process vaccine records

Wait what? FDA wants 55 years to process FOIA request over vaccine data

By Jenna Greene, Reuters, Nov. 18, 2021

Freedom of Information Act requests are rarely speedy, but when a group of scientists asked the federal government to share the data it relied upon in licensing Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, the response went beyond typical bureaucratic foot-dragging.

As in 55 years beyond.

That’s how long the Food & Drug Administration in court papers this week proposes it should be given to review and release the trove of vaccine-related documents responsive to the request. If a federal judge in Texas agrees, plaintiffs Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency can expect to see the full record in 2076.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Tech help for FOIA backlogs

Tech Improvements That Can Help Gov't Tackle FOIA Backlog

By Ken Koch & Erica Spector, Law360, Nov. 17, 2021

As the number of Freedom of Information Act requests submitted to the federal government continues to grow, so does the cost to the government. The Congressional Research Service notes that current prioritization of pandemic-related requests, remote work, and an inability to coordinate requests have increased existing backlog, and caused federal agencies to process significantly fewer FOIA requests in longer times in fiscal year 2020 than in fiscal year 2019.

Read more here (accessible with free trial).

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.