Below we summarize the notable FOIA court decisions and news from last month, as well as a peek ahead to events in August.
Court decisions:
We identified and posted 15 decisions issued in July, the highest total since the month of March. The government fared well in at the appellate level with two affirmances in the D.C. Circuit—Cabezas v. FBI and Kowal v. DOJ—and one in the Eighth Circuit, Fogg v. IRS. All were fairly routine, however.
In the district courts, Judge McFadden of the D.D.C was faced with an interesting issue in Children’s Health Def. v. CDC, specifically whether executive departments are automatically parties when their components are sued. Based on “text and precedent,” he ruled that they did not.
News:
Congressman Adam Schiff introduced a bill on July 23, 2024, that would extend FOIA to the federal judiciary. FOIA Advisor criticized the bill in a commentary.
The Office of Government Information Services held its annual open meeting on July 24, 2024.
On July 18, 2024, the Office of Information Policy announced that it had added law enforcement records to its FOIA.gov search tool.
Lookahead to August
At some point in August, OGIS is likely to announce the new members of the FOIA Advisory Committee for the 2024-2026 term, whose first public meeting is September 9, 2024.
Aug. 15, 2024: Judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia will hold a Motion Hearing in New Civil Liberties Alliance v. SEC, No. 22-cv-3567. The D.C. Circuit will not hear any matters in August.
Aug. 16, 2024: 30 business days before the end of fiscal year 2024. FOIA requests received on or after this date that involve “unusual circumstances” will not be considered backlogged in FY 2024 if unfulfilled.
Aug. 30, 2024: 20 business days before the end of FY 2024. Any FOIA requests received on or after this date will not be considered backlogged in FY 2024 if unfulfilled.