FOIA News: Justice Department, GSA working on common standards for FOIA tech

Justice Department, GSA working on common standards for FOIA tech

By Justin Doubleday, Federal News Network, Nov. 8, 2022

The Freedom of Information Act community is developing new technology standards to help improve FOIA processes and standardize common services like case management tools across government.

The Justice Department’s Office of Information Policy and the Office of Government Information Services at the National Archives are working with the General Services Administration’s Office of Shared Services and Performance Improvement to advance shared FOIA business standards, according to Lindsay Steel, chief of FOIA compliance staff at OIP.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Frequent FBI requester, Ernie Lazar, dies at 77

Ernie Lazar, Who Trawled for Secret Government Documents, Dies at 77

By pursuing his “unusual hobby” of filing as many as 10,000 Freedom of Information requests about extremist groups, he proved invaluable to historians and journalists.

By Sam Roberts, NY Times, Sept. 7, 2022

Ernie Lazar, an unheralded hero of researchers who mined his vast digital and documentary archive of government records on political extremists to invigorate their books, articles and arguments and to warn against “it can’t happen here” complacency, died on Nov. 1 at his home in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 77.

His death was confirmed by the Coroner’s Bureau of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. He reported online a few months ago that he was receiving home hospice care for kidney disease.

Read more here.

FOIA News: OGIS Part 4

Understanding the Office of Government Information Services (part 4/4)

Office of Gov’t Info. Serv., FOIA Ombudsman, Nov. 2, 2022

In our previous blog posts “Understanding the Office of Government Information Services,” parts 1, 2 and 3,  we provided a basic overview of OGIS and highlighted our dispute resolution and compliance work. In this wrap-up post we’ll further explain the important work of the FOIA Advisory Committee and the Chief FOIA Officers Council. 

What is the FOIA Advisory Committee? 

The federal FOIA Advisory Committee, composed of 20 FOIA experts from inside and outside of government, advises the Archivist of the United States on FOIA matters. NARA established the Committee in 2014 in accordance with the U.S. Second Open Government National Action Plan and the Federal Advisory Committee Act to bring together perspectives from all parts of the FOIA community. Under its charter, the Committee fosters dialogue between the Administration and the requester community, solicits public comments, and develops consensus recommendations for improving FOIA administration and proactive disclosures. 

Read more here.

FOIA News: FBI asks court to reconsider order to disclose Seth Rich-related records

In a motion filed last week, the FBI asked a federal court in Texas to reconsider its ruling that plaintiff was entitled to 400,000-plus pages of records pertaining to Seth Rich. Should the court deny that motion, the FBI requests that the court-ordered processing schedule be maintained at the pace of 500 pages per month. That would provide the agency approximately 66 years to complete its production.

FOIA News: ICYMI, "junior" Air Force official blamed for improper release of House candidate's performance evaluations

Air Force blames ‘junior individual’ for congressional candidate’s wrongful records release

By Corey Dickstein, Stars & Stripes, Oct. 28, 2022

The protected military personnel records of an Air National Guard officer who is running for a House seat in Indiana were incorrectly released by an Air Force employee, a service spokeswoman said Thursday.

An initial investigation revealed a “junior individual” within the Air Force Department was likely responsible for the wrongful release of military records for congressional candidate Jennifer-Ruth Green to an unnamed third party, said Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman.

Green, a 2005 Air Force Academy graduate and Iraq war veteran, is a Republican running for Indiana’s 1st Congressional District seat. She served 12 years on active duty as a special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and she is now a lieutenant colonel in the Indiana Air National Guard.

Read more here.

FOIA News: EPA employees file FOIA suit re telecommuting policies

Environmental Protection Agency Workers File Suit Over Remote Work Policies

EPA workers in the agency's largest region allege that their remote work requests have been unfairly denied.

By Michael Gennara, Gov’t Exec., Oct. 28, 20

Environmental Protection Agency workers in the midwest are suing the agency, seeking disclosure of documents under a Freedom of Information Act request. The document request is related to the agency’s remote work policies for employees of the EPA’s Region 5 Office and its application to specific employees.

Region 5 is the largest of the EPA’s 10 national regions, and includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

These EPA employees, represented by American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, allege in a lawsuit filed on Oct. 20 that requests to work remotely have been unfairly denied to Region 5 workers even though productivity has remained high with remote work. 

Read more here.

FOIA News: OGIS Part 3

Understanding the Office of Government Information Services (part 3/4)

By Office of Gov’t Info. Serv., FOIA Ombudsman, Oct. 27, 2022

In our previous two blog posts “Understanding the Office of Government Information Services” parts 1 and 2, we provided a basic overview of how OGIS is structured and highlighted aspects of our dispute resolution program. In this post we’ll touch on the specific nuances of our compliance program. 

How does OGIS’s compliance work?

OGIS reviews agency policies, procedures and compliance through an impartial lens as an advocate for the FOIA process. We do this by:

• assessing issues that we observe while assisting requesters and agencies with the FOIA process;

• offering assessments of individual agency FOIA programs;

• highlighting agency best practices;

• reviewing and commenting on proposed agency FOIA regulations;

• reviewing and suggesting improvements to agency FOIA materials;

• working with agencies when we observe policies and procedures that appear to OGIS to be inconsistent with FOIA law or policy; and

• reviewing government and non-government reports on FOIA activities and compliance.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Air Force takes 'full responsibility' for Jennifer-Ruth Green sexual assault leak, GOP congressmen say

Air Force takes 'full responsibility' for Jennifer-Ruth Green sexual assault leak, GOP congressmen say

Indiana Reps. Jim Banks and Larry Bucshon said the records were provided to 'an opposition research firm' ahead of the state's Nov. 8 election

By Kyle Morris, Fox News, Oct. 26, 2022

EXCLUSIVE: The Air Force has taken responsibility for the release of an Indiana Republican House candidate's confidential personnel records that contained details about her sexual assault, according to two GOP congressmen from the Hoosier State.

In a joint statement that was first shared with Fox News Digital, Indiana GOP Rep. Jim Banks, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, and Indiana GOP Rep. Larry Bucshon, described a discussion they had with Air Force Inspector General Lt. Gen. Stephen Davis about the Air Force Personnel Center’s release of Indiana 1st Congressional District candidate Air Force Lt. Col. Jennifer-Ruth Green’s confidential personnel records:

Read more here.

FOIA News: Diversity data still pending at Labor

Labor Department Reluctant to Reveal Contractor Diversity Data

• Federal contractors required to report diversity stats to government

• But public not able to see contractor hiring information

By J. Edward Moreno, Bloomberg Law, Oct. 20, 2022

The Labor Department branch charged with enforcing affirmative action rules for federal contractors is working to keep those same companies’ demographic data out of the public eye.

The government argues that the information could potentially hurt the contractors competitively, and that it has a legal requirement to give each of the approximately 15,000 companies a chance to object to an exhaustive Freedom of Information Act request from the Center for Investigative Reporting asking that they turn over the information.

Thousands of contractors collecting over $630 billion in taxpayer dollars each year keep everything from office cafeterias to the military running for the American people, but with virtually no public transparency about how they are faring at hiring and promoting women and minorities.

Read more here.

FOIA News: OGIS, Part 2

Understanding the Office of Government Information Services (part 2/4)

By Office of Gov’t Serv., FOIA Ombudsman, Oct. 19, 2022

In our previous blog post “Understanding the Office of Government Information Services,” we provided a basic overview of  OGIS’s history and structure. In this post we’ll focus on our mediation program.  

How are requests for OGIS assistance handled?

FOIA requesters and agencies may request OGIS’s assistance in resolving a dispute at any point in the FOIA administrative process. OGIS does not take sides in disputes or advocate on behalf of either the requester or agency; the office promotes a fair FOIA process and works with parties to reach a mutually agreeable resolution and/or increase understanding.

Read more here.