FOIA News: FOIA discussion at the National Press Club

Open records: Everything you need to know before filing your first FOIA request

Nat’l Press Club Journalism Inst.., May 4, 2022

Public records belong to the public. So where do we get started tracking them down

Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute for "My First FOIA: Open records are for everyone" to learn what government records you have a right to and how to request them. Whether you're a journalist, student, parent, community activist, teacher, business owner, or taxpayer, you will learn how to request public records that can help you in your personal and professional life.

Registration is open for this program, which will take place on Friday, May 20 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET.

Read more here.

FOIA News: FOIA Advisory Committee to meet on May 5

FOIA Advisory Committee Meets on May 5

OGIS, FOIA Ombudsman Blog, Apr. 28, 2022

The penultimate meeting of the 2020-2022 term of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advisory Committee is Thursday, May 5, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT. This virtual meeting is open to the public and registration is required for those wishing to make oral public comments. Please register here by 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, to receive an email with instructions for accessing the meeting via WebEx. We also will livestream the meeting on the National Archives YouTube channel (with a slight transmission delay).

Read more here.

FOIA News: AmeriCorps to amend FOIA regulations

The Corporation for National and Community Service (operating as AmeriCorps) has issued a proposed rule revising its FOIA regulations “to reflect changes made in the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 and to make the regulations more user friendly through plain language.” Public comments may be submitted through July 1, 2022.

Court opinions issued Apr. 28, 2022

Zirvi v. NIH (D.N.J.) -- concluding that: (1) multiple agencies properly relied on Exemption 4 to withhold records concerning a biotechnology company; (2) plaintiff’s belief that withheld documents would show existence of criminal conduct did not undermine exemptions or warrant discovery or in camera review; and (3) plaintiff was neither eligible nor entitled to costs.

Am. Civil Liberties Union v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons (D.D.C.) -- denying plaintiff’s motion to strike agency’s declaration in connection with plaintiff’s requests for COVID-19 data and cost and staffing data related to federal executions.

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

Court opinions issued Apr. 26, 2022

Nat’l Student Legal Def. Net. v. U.S. Dep’t of Educ. (D.D.C.) -- ruling that Department of Education performed adequate search for certain federal student aid-related records received from the Social Security Administration, notwithstanding department’s failure to locate two additional SSA records that the department was required by regulation to request from SSA annually.

100Reporters v. U.S. Dep’t of State (D.D.C.) — finding that: (1) Department failed to adequately search for reports to Congress concerning vetting of foreign security personnel; (2) Department properly withheld some, but not all, vetting records pursuant to Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege and noting that agencies are not required to trace lineage of each draft document to ensure that it has not been adopted as agency’s final position; (3) Department failed to provide sufficient evidence to show that names of foreign security officials were protected under Exemptions 6 or 7(C); (4) Department properly withheld most, but not all, records pursuant to Exemption 7(E); and (5) Department failed to identify any authority that would authorize Court to order plaintiffs to return inadvertently released records, regardless of whether those records are protected under various exemptions, including Exemption 7(F).

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

FOIA News: Following lawsuit, Pentagon agrees to process requests from Stars & Stripes reporter

DOD agrees to give reporter public records through FOIA but not day in court

By Alison Bath, Stars & Stripes, Apr. 25, 2022

An airman files records in Port Orchard, Wash., March 9, 2022. The Defense Department in a recent court filing agreed to fulfill 15 Freedom of Information Act requests it previously denied to a Stars and Stripes journalist. (Jason Kriess/U.S. Army)

The Defense Department has agreed to fulfill 15 Freedom of Information Act requests it previously denied to a journalist because he worked for a military publication.

In a court filing last week, the DOD, the Department of the Navy, the Marine Corps and U.S. Central Command said they will no longer refuse Stars and Stripes reporter Chad Garland’s requests for public records made through FOIA requests filed from August 2020 through August 2021.

The department did not say why it suddenly changed course in the filing Wednesday, which came about two weeks after its lawyers filed an answer to Garland’s lawsuit and appeared ready to litigate.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Chief FOIA Officers Council meeting held on 4/21/22

For those that missed the CFO Council meeting on Thursday, we are posting the recording, presentation slides, and agenda.

FOIA News: ICYMI, FBI ordered to speed up processing of Civil War gold docs

Judge Orders FBI to Produce Records on Civil War Gold Hunt

A federal judge has ordered the FBI to speed up the release of records about the agency’s search for buried Civil War-era gold in Pennsylvania.

By Michael Rubinkam, AP, Apr. 18, 2022

The FBI might not have found any Civil War-era gold at a remote woodland site in Pennsylvania — but it's definitely got records of the agency's 2018 dig, and will soon have to turn them over to a father-son pair of treasure hunters.

A federal judge has ordered the FBI to speed up the release of records about the search for the legendary gold, ruling Monday in favor of Finders Keepers, the treasure hunting outfit that led FBI agents to the remote site. The group accuses the Justice Department of slow-walking their request for information.

The FBI must turn over 1,000 pages of records per month, starting in 30 days, and the first batch of records must include a key report sought by Finders Keepers, U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta ordered.

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Apr. 19, 2022

Property of the People v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- following in camera review of 50 sample documents concerning Donald Trump before his presidential campaign, ruling that FBI was not required to expend “considerable” resources in order release non-exempt information because “it would result in negligible, if any, meaningful information going to Plaintiffs.”

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

FOIA News: Free FOIA webinar on May 5

FIRE’s Student Press Freedom Initiative to host free ‘FOIA & Public Records 101’ webinar May 5

By Lindsie Rank, FIRE.org, Apr. 20, 2022

One pivotal tool for journalists — including student journalists covering campus news — is access to public records. 

Now, as part of the Student Press Freedom Initiative’s webinar series for college journalists, we’re bringing you “FOIA & Public Records 101,” a workshop on the basics of requesting records and using them in your reporting.

Click here to register for the webinar, which will take place on May 5 at 4 p.m. EST. The webinar will also be recorded and accessible on FIRE’s YouTube channel for those who can’t make the live event.

Read more here.