2nd Circ. Rules ICE Must Help ACLU Track Immigration Cases
By Brian Steele, Law360, Jan. 26, 2023
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement must give the American Civil Liberties Union a digital key for tracking individual cases in a voluminous set of spreadsheets that the agency turned over in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, or reorganize the data and send it again, the Second Circuit held Thursday in a ruling that sets new precedent.
Read more here (subscription).
Federal agencies are required to post their fiscal year 2022 annual reports by March 1, 2023. Several agencies are ahead of the curve. We’ll post more reports as they become available.
Department of Agriculture (status quo; 17k requests received and processed)
National Science Foundation (nice cover page)
Office of Management & Budget (very slow processing times)
Federal Reserve System (low backlog)
Securities and Exchange Commission ($7 million processing costs; collected only $5k processing fees)
Millennium Challenge Corporation (only 21 requests received)
National Indian Gaming Commission (only 48 requests received)
Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (only 12 requests received)
Udall Foundation (only 3 requests received)
Social Security Administration (collected $186k processing fees)
Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation (misnamed “FY 2023”; only 18 requests received)
Postal Regulatory Commission (only 45 requests received)
Selective Service System (only 48 requests received)
'SMEAR MACHINE': Indiana Republican sounds off after Air Force admits to 'unauthorized release' of her records
The Air Force told Fox News Digital it takes 'full responsibility' for the improper release of Green's records
By Kyle Morris, Fox News, Jan. 19, 2023
EXCLUSIVE: Former Indiana GOP congressional candidate Jennifer-Ruth Green says she feels "vindicated," yet "frustrated," after the Air Force admitted in a letter sent to her Wednesday that her military personnel records – the source of a pre-election Politico story that documented details about her sexual assault during her service in the branch – were released to a third party "without proper redaction."
Read more here.
IRS Beats Microsoft's FOIA Suit Over 15-Year Audit
By Natalie Olivo, Law360, Jan. 19, 2023
The IRS adequately searched for documents on its 15-year audit of Microsoft while justifying exemptions to disclosure requirements for withheld files, a Washington federal judge ruled, tossing the tech giant's case seeking records under the Freedom of Information Act.
Read more here (subscription).
Fifth Open Government National Action Plan Issued
Dep’t of Justice, OIP Blog, Jan. 18, 2023
The U.S. Government recently issued the Fifth Open Government National Action Plan containing several commitments to increase the public’s access to data to better advance equity, engage the public in the regulatory process, make government records more accessible to the public, and improve the delivery of government services and benefits, among other areas. The plan was developed through public engagement with hundreds of participants and consideration of written public comments.
The Office of Information Policy is pleased to be leading work on multiple commitments related to strengthening access to government information through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Building on its work to implement the Attorney General’s March 2022 FOIA Guidelines, the Department commits to further bolstering openness and transparency by:
Issuing an updated FOIA Self-Assessment Toolkit to reflect additional milestones for proactive disclosures, use of technology, and requirements of the Attorney General’s new FOIA Guidelines.
Leading the development of shared FOIA business standards to make it easier for agencies to acquire technology and, in turn, improve efficiency and consistency in processing FOIA requests.
Developing an interactive tool to help the public more easily locate records online or find the right agency to submit their FOIA requests when information is not already posted.
You can read the White House press release here and visit https://open.usa.gov/ for information on the U.S. Government’s Open Government work as well as for future opportunities for engagement and feedback. Continue to follow FOIA Post for updates on the above FOIA initiatives.
Read the original post here.
OIP Now Accepting Nominations for the 2023 Sunshine Week FOIA Awards
Dep’t of Justice, OIP Blog, Jan. 2023
The Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy (OIP) is pleased to announce that nominations are open for the 2023 Sunshine Week FOIA Awards, recognizing the contributions of FOIA professionals from around the government. As the Attorney General recognized in his FOIA Guidelines issued in March 2022, “[t]he federal government could not process the hundreds of thousands of FOIA requests that are received every year without its dedicated FOIA professionals.” Agency FOIA professionals are at the center of ensuring successful FOIA administration and we look forward to celebrating the work of these individuals from around the government. For this year’s event, OIP is seeking nominations for five categories of awards:
Exceptional Service by a FOIA Professional or Team of FOIA Professionals
Outstanding Contributions by a New Employee
Exceptional Advancements in IT to Improve the Agency’s FOIA Administration
Exceptional Advancements in Proactive Disclosure of Information
Lifetime Service Award
Nominations can be submitted by agencies or by a member of the public. All nominations are due to OIP by Wednesday, February 15.
Awardees will be recognized during the Department’s 2023 Sunshine Week event on March 13th.
For more information, including submission guidelines, read here.
On January 9, 2023, the Center for Plain Language issued its 11th annual report card evaluating how well agencies follow the Plain Writing Act. The Center examined two online pages of 21 executive branch agencies: the main Contact Us page and the main FOIA request page. The Department of Agriculture’s FOIA page was singled out as “exemplary,” while the Department of Commerce’s FOIA page was described as one that “needs work.”
See the full report here.
See related article from Government Executive here.
New Year, New Public Comments Form
By Office of Gov’t Info. Serv., FOIA Ombudsman, Jan. 9, 2023
As we begin a new year and say “hello” to 2023, we have news to share: OGIS is excited to announce our new public comments form. This new tool allows the public to submit their comments to the FOIA Advisory Committee, the Chief FOIA Officers Council, and the OGIS Annual Meeting while streamlining our internal process to create efficiencies.
We value hearing from stakeholders in the federal FOIA landscape and written public comments are an important way for us—and the Committee and Council—to better understand the experiences of FOIA requesters. One of our strategic goals at the National Archives and Records Administration is “Connect with Customers,” and as the FOIA Ombudsman, we do that every day by listening to the FOIA process.
Read more here.
Some FOIA news from the Fifth U.S. Open National Action Plan released a few days ago. The U.S. Department of Justice has committed to take the following steps to bolster openness and transparency:
Issuance of an updated FOIA Self-Assessment Toolkit, originally issued in 2017, to reflect, among other things, additional milestones for proactive disclosures, use of technology, and requirements of the Attorney 16 General’s new FOIA Guidelines.
Leading a Chief FOIA Officer Council working group that will collaborate with the Office of Government Information Services at the National Archives and Records Administration, the Office of Shared Services & Performance Improvement at the Government Services Administration, and the Business Standards Council to develop shared FOIA business standards. The shared business standards will make it easier for agencies to acquire FOIA technology and, in turn, improve efficiency and consistency in processing requests across the Federal Government. Having established standards will also help industry create new solutions to meet agencies’ needs.
Enhancement of the user experience on FOIA.gov, the Federal Government’s central website for FOIA, by developing an interactive tool to help members of the public more easily locate records that are already available online or find the right agency to submit their FOIA requests when information is not already posted online.
MFIA Fights for Trump’s Visitor Records and the Future of FOIA
By Yale Law School, Dec. 22, 2022
The Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic (MFIA) is asking the Supreme Court to review a lower court decision the clinic says dramatically restricts the scope of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The decision of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals allows the Secret Service to withhold records identifying visitors to former President Donald Trump before he took office simply because the Trump campaign requested confidentiality.
“The Second Circuit’s decision that records used by a federal agency are exempt from disclosure under FOIA if they were obtained from a party that wanted them to remain confidential stands FOIA’s disclosure mandate on its head,” said Floyd Abrams Lecturer in Law and MFIA Director David Schulz ’78. “The ruling sets dangerous precedent that threatens to undermine government accountability.”
From November 2015 until he entered office in January 2017, Trump received Secret Service protection as a presidential candidate and President-elect. During this time, news reporting often addressed Trump’s meetings with lobbyists for major corporations and special interest groups. In September 2017, investigative journalist Richard Behar filed FOIA requests seeking records of visitors to Trump and his associates while Trump was under agency protection.
Read more here.