Court opinions issued Sept. 30, 2022

McMichael v. DOJ (D. Del.) -- determining that plaintiff was eligible and entitled to an award of costs and nearly all requested attorney’s fees in case involving FBI’s investigatory records concerning theft of jewels from Royal Family of Hesse by U.S. military officers during World War 2.

Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Wash. v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- deciding that: (1) EOUSA and OIP conducted adequate searches for travel, budget, and expense records pertaining to John Durham’s investigation of the 2016 presidential campaign; and (2) DOJ properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 6, 7(A), 7(C), and 7(F).

Jarvis v. HUD (D.D.C.) -- concluding that agency performed adequate search for records concerning plaintiff’s housing complaints, rejecting plaintiff’s allegations of a conspiracy between the agency and property company to conceal records.

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

Court opinions issued Sept. 28, 2022

Kendrick v. FBI (D.D.C.) -- finding that FBI performed adequate search for records pertaining to plaintiff, properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 7(C), 7(D), and 7(E), and met the foreseeable harm requirement; noting that satisfying the terms of exemptions outside of Exemption 5 by itself “goes a long way to meeting the foreseeable harm requirement.”

Nat'l Pub. Radio v. DHS (D.D.C.) -- concluding that DHS improperly relied on Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege to withhold mostly factual information contained in investigatory reports of immigrant detention facilities, and it failed to show that any of its withholdings met the foreseeable harm requirement.

Am. Small Bus. League v. OMB (N.D. Cal.) -- ruling that OMB performed a reasonable search for records indicating the total federal acquisition budget for FY 2017, FY 2018, and FY 2019, and that plaintiff impermissibly expanded the scope of its request after commencing litigation.

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

FOIA News: OIP hiring FOIA appeals attorney

The Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy has a vacancy for an attorney-advisor at the GS-12 level to join its administrative appeals staff. The application deadline is October 21, 2022 . See more details here.

Court opinion issued Sept. 27, 2022

Hall & Assocs. v. EPA (D.D.C.) -- determining that: (1) agency performed adequate search for records transmitted between headquarters and Region 7 concerning November 2013 meeting; (2) agency properly relied on Exemptions 5’s deliberative process, attorney work-product, and attorney-client privileges to withhold portion of email discussing possible enforcement action; and (3) in camera inspection was required to ascertain whether eleven documents concerning contemplated regulatory action contained purely factual material; (4) agency conducted adequate search for certain enforcement orders and properly withheld most, but not all, records pertaining to draft administrative order pursuant to multiple Exemption 5 privileges.

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

FOIA News: OIP Releases FY 2022 FOIA Reporting Deadlines

Announcing Upcoming FOIA Reporting Deadlines

Dep’t of Justice, Office of Info. Policy, Sept. 28, 2022

As the fiscal year draws to a close, the Office of Information Policy (OIP) looks to the beginning of the FOIA reporting season. Today, OIP announces the deadlines for the submission of agencies' Fiscal Year 2022 Annual FOIA Reports, Fiscal Year 2023 Quarterly FOIA Reports, and 2023 Chief FOIA Officer Reports, along with updated resources.

Read more here.

FOIA News: OIP Updates Exemption 3 Resources

Key FOIA Resources: 2022 Updates to Exemption 3 Statutes

Dep’t of Justice, Office of Info. Policy, Sept. 27, 2022

The Office of Information Policy (OIP) has posted updates to its compilation of Exemption 3 resources, aimed at assisting agencies in their administration of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and increasing public understanding of the use of Exemption 3.  These materials are located on the FOIA Resources page of OIP's site. 

The first resource is an updated list of Statutes Found to Qualify Under Exemption 3 of the FOIA.  This resource contains the most current listing of federal statutes that federal courts have affirmatively found to qualify as Exemption 3 statutes.  The second resource is the Fiscal Year 2021 list of Statutes used in Annual FOIA Reports in conjunction with Exemption 3 of the FOIA.  This resource includes a listing of the statutes used by all federal agencies subject to the FOIA, as reported in their FY 2021 Annual FOIA Reports.  CSV and PDF versions of this resource provide the citation of each statute used, the type of information protected by the statute, the agencies that cited each statute, and the number of times the statute was cited during the preceding fiscal year.  Charts dating back to FY 2010 are also available on OIP's FOIA Resources page. 

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Sept. 25, 2022

Argyle Sys. v. IRS (D.D.C.) -- concluding that IRS properly invoked Exemption 3 in conjunction with 26 U.S.C. § 6103(a) to categorically withhold various records, including Reporting Agent Authorization forms (i.e., Forms 8655); further concluding that statute’s foreseeable harm provision does not apply to Exemption 3 withholdings.

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

FOIA News: Fiscal year ends Friday. Enter FOIA request contest!

As FOIA personnel look forward to the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2022, we remind our readers to submit by that date their best guesses as to how many FOIA requests the government received over the past 12 months. We’ll give away gifts cards for the three closest entrees— or play just for the fun of it! See our earlier post for full details.

Court opinions issued Sept. 21, 2022

Freeman v. FBI (D.D.C.) -- granting FBI’s unopposed renewed summary judgment and finding that agency properly withheld internal secure fax numbers pursuant to Exemption 7(C) and intranet and internal web addresses pursuant to Exemption 7(E).

Black Hills Clean Water Alliance v. U.S. Forest Serv. (D.S.D.) -- granting plaintiff’s discovery request regarding agency’s search notwithstanding lack of unusual circumstances and D.C. Circuit precedent disfavoring routine discovery.

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

Court opinion issued Sept. 20, 2022

Bader Family Found. v. U.S. Dep’t of Educ. (D.D.C.) -- deciding that: (1) agency failed to conduct adequate search for emails concerning school disciplinary policies by neglecting to use reasonable search terms and not searching a non-government email account to which responsive emails had been sent; and (2) agency properly relied on Exemption 6 to redact cell phone number and non-government email address.

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