FOIA News: DOJ releases updated toolkit for agency assessments

UPDATED FOIA SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOLKIT NOW AVAILABLE

By DOJ/OIP, FOIA Post, Mar. 9, 2023

Today, the Office of Information Policy (OIP) posted a comprehensive update to its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Self-Assessment Toolkit.  This update fulfills one of the Department’s commitments from the Fifth U.S. Open Government National Action Plan to strengthen access to government information through the FOIA.  The Toolkit, originally issued in 2017, is a resource for agencies to use when assessing their administration of the FOIA.  OIP has encouraged agencies to conduct self-assessments and many agencies have reported doing so in their Chief FOIA Officer Reports in recent years. 

Read more here.

FOIA News: CDC AGREES TO SETTLEMENT IN AMERICAN OVERSIGHT LAWSUIT CHALLENGING AGENCY’S FOIA PRACTICES

PUBLIC RECORDS VICTORY: CDC AGREES TO SETTLEMENT IN AMERICAN OVERSIGHT LAWSUIT CHALLENGING AGENCY’S FOIA PRACTICES

American Oversight, Mar. 10, 2023

American Oversight has reached an important settlement agreement in a lawsuit filed against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over the agency’s illegal practice of rejecting valid Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

The settlement includes a requirement that the CDC send an instructional email to all FOIA staff regarding the improper rejection of requests as “overly broad” — a claim the agency used to deny several of American Oversight’s requests related to the pandemic in 2020.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued Mar. 9, 2023

Stevens v. Broad. Bd. of Governors (N.D. Ill.) -- on renewed summary judgment, concluding that: (1) U.S. Agency for Global Media performed adequate search for contract records and properly withheld certain records pursuant to Exemption 4; (2) HHS adequately explained it search process and properly withheld employee names and titles under Exemption 6; (3) USCIS performed reasonable search and properly relied on Exemption 4 to withhold contractor’s pricing information; and (4) USAID cured its search deficiency with supplemental search; and (5) ICE adequately justified its withholdings under Exemption 5’s deliberative process, attorney work-product, and attorney-client privileges.

Williams v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- determining that DEA properly withheld various records concerning plaintiff’s criminal case pursuant to Exemptions 7(E) and 7(F), that plaintiff was not entitled to special access to records under FOIA to attack his criminal conviction, and that plaintiff was not entitled to appointment of counsel.

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

Court opinion issued Mar. 8, 2023

Welsh v. U.S. Dep't. of State (D.D.C. ) -- determining that agency performed reasonable search for a list of all posts filled by a specific type of U.S. personnel that had international travel restrictions imposed on them, and that the agency was not required to create such a list for plaintiff.

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

Court opinions issued Mar. 6-7, 2023

Mar. 7, 2023

S. Envtl. Law Ctr. v. Tenn. Valley Auth. (E.D. Tenn.) -- ruling that agency properly relied on Exemption 4 to redact certain information contained in two contracts negotiated with natural gas pipeline companies; further ruling that foreseeable harm provision was applicable, consistent with Second Circuit’s 2022 decision in Seife v. FDA, and that agency adequately established that disclosure would harm companies’ commercial or financial interests; declining to decide whether disclosure was prohibited by Trade Secrets Act and thus outside reach of foreseeable harm provision.

Mar. 6, 2023

Aguirre v. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comm'n (S.D. Cal.) -- finding that: (1) agency failed to perform reasonable search for certain communications between NRC and generating station operators pertaining to incident involving storage of nuclear waste; (2) agency properly withheld identities third parties pursuant to Exemption 7(C); (3) agency properly withheld link to agency computer network pursuant to Exemption 7(F); (4) agency properly relied on Exemption 4 to withhold two “proprietary” documents submitted by private companies under implied promise of confidentiality; not addressing whether foreseeable harm provision applied to Exemption 4; and (5) rejecting plaintiff’s argument that separate Vaughn index was necessary due to alleged deficiencies in agency’s declaration.

Huddleston v. FBI (E.D. Tex.) -- denying plaintiff’s request for interim attorney’s fees and costs in case concerning FBI’s investigation of Seth Rich’s death, but permitting plaintiff to refile same motion after court ruled on pending motions for reconsideration.

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

FOIA News: Census Bureau jumps the gun on Sunshine Week

Sunshine Week & Freedom of Information Day: March 12-18 & 16, 2023

Press Release, Mar. 12, 2023

According to Sunshineweek.org, “Sunshine Week was launched in 2005 by the American Society of News Editors — now News Leaders Association — and has grown into an enduring initiative to promote open government. Join News Leaders Association in the annual nationwide celebration of access to public information and what it means for you and your community. It’s your right to know.”

Read more here.

FOIA News: ICYMI, the gripping story of the "Glomar" mission

Earlier this year, Columbia University Press published Neither Confirm Nor Deny: How the Glomar Mission Shielded the CIA from Transparency, a book authored by East Carolina University professor M. Todd Bennett. “Like a Jules Verne novel with an Ian Fleming twist, the saga of the Glomar Explorer features underwater espionage, impossible gadgetry, and high-stakes international drama. It also marks a key moment in the history of transparency—and not just for what became known as the Glomar response: “We can neither confirm nor deny. . . .”

See here for table of contents, preview, and purchasing options.

FOIA News: 928k requests generate large backlogs

FOIA backlogs on the rise after record number of requests

By Justin Doubleday, Fed. News Network, Mar. 3, 2023 4:34 pm   

Freedom of Information Act backlogs soared at some key agencies after the public filed a record number of FOIA requests in fiscal 2022.

Agencies received 928,353 requests last year and processed 878,420 requests, both record highs, according to the Justice Department’s Office of Information Policy. Agencies were required to upload their fiscal 2022 annual FOIA reports by March 1.

Read more here.

FOIA News: OGIS announces Sunshine Week event

Mark Your Calendar For Sunshine Week 2023

NARA/OGIS, FOIA Ombudsman, Mar. 2, 2023

Make plans to join us as we kick off Sunshine Week, an annual nationwide celebration of access to public information, with a panel discussion on “Making Access Happen: FOIA at the National Archives” on Monday, March 13, at 1 p.m. ET.  The event will be live-streamed on the National Archives YouTube Channel.   

Read more here.

FOIA News: DOJ releases annual "Litigation and Compliance report"

By DOJ/OIP, FOIA Post, Mar. 2, 2023

This week, the Office of Information Policy (OIP) posted the Department’s 2022 FOIA Litigation and Compliance Report.  In accordance with the FOIA, each year the Department of Justice submits to Congress and the President a report detailing our efforts to encourage agency compliance with the FOIA.  The report also contains a listing of all FOIA litigation cases received and decided in the prior calendar year.  The report highlights the many ways that OIP works to provide guidance, trainings, and counseling to agencies to assist them in their FOIA administration and to promote agency accountability.     

Read more here.