FOIA News: Nat'l Foundation on Arts & Humanities rescinding FOIA regulations

The National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities has proposed to abolish its FOIA regulations, because it maintains no agency records and its three constituent agencies—the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services—already have their own agency-specific FOIA regulations. The Foundation’s proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on May 3, 2023, and the public comment period will remain open through June 2, 2023.

FOIA News: SCOTUS won't hear dispute over meaning of "agency record"

Supreme Court Won’t Take Up Petition Over Agency Records In FOIA Requests

Lexis Legal News, May 1, 2023 

An investigative journalist’s questions over when a document is considered an “agency record” that is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) will go unheard by the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied the petition for certiorari in its May 1 order list.

Read more here (access with free registration)

P.S. The Behar decision in the Second Circuit was among our top ten FOIA decisions of 2022.

FOIA News: Federalist Society hosts panel on FOIA

Earlier this week, as part of its annual Executive Branch Review Conference, the Federalist Society hosted a panel entitled “$64,000 Questions — Obtaining Information from the Executive Branch.” The panel featured:

• Gary Lawkowksi (Counsel, Dhillon Law Group)

• Ryan Mulvey (Policy Counsel, Americans for Prosperity Foundation; President, American Society of Access Professionals; Contributor, FOIA Advisor)

• Alina Semo (Director, Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration)

• Katie Townsend (Deputy Executive Director and Legal Director, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press)

A video of the panel, which was moderated by Judge Stephen Vaden of the U.S. Court of International Trade, is available here.

FOIA News: FOIA tips from journalists

On May 10, 2023, New York University’s School of Journalism is hosting a free, in-person panel discussion on obtaining access to federal and New York public records. Speakers include Sandra Peddie, Newsday, multi-award winner on police corruption; Mark Walker, New York Times, Pulitzer winner and Times FOIA coordinator; Charlies Seife, Scientific American contributor and NYU journalism professor, Big Pharma/FDA investigator; and Matthew Leish, Esq., First Amendment lawyer repping Daily News and more. See here for more details.

FOIA News: Reminder of CFO Council meeting

The Chief FOIA Officers Council will meet on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, from 10am to 11:30am EDT. Members of the public may watch the livestream on the National Archives’ YouTube Channel. The agenda is available here.

FOIA News: OGIS issues quarterly report

On April 20, 2023, the Office of Government Information issued its quarterly report for the second quarter of fiscal year 2023, which ended on March 31, 2023. Highlights include receiving 1381 requests for assistance and closing 1370 cases.

FOIA News: DOL releases contractors’ demographic data

Feds publish contractors’ workforce demographic data in response to FOIA request

The release contains information on more than 19,000 businesses.

By Ginger Christ, HRDIVE, Apr. 19, 2023

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program (OFCCP) released information Monday on the race and ethnicity, gender and job categories of workers at federal contractors and first-tier subcontractors. 

The data was made available as the result of Freedom of Information Act requests — and a subsequent lawsuit — by the not-for-profit Center for Investigative Reporting news organization for Type 2 Consolidated EEO-1 reports from 2016 through 2020 for federal contractors with 50 or more employees and more than one location. 

The OFCCP released information on 19,289 businesses that did not submit objections to having their data shared. Companies were given several opportunities to object and had until March 31 to contest the release of their information. 

Read more here.

FOIA News: FBI must process request re: NSBA letter

FBI ordered to release documents about bureau's response to NSBA letter

By Jeremiah Poff, Wash. Exam’r, Apr. 17, 2023

The FBI must comply with a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records about the bureau's response to a 2021 letter from the National School Boards Association that labeled parent protesters domestic terrorists, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled.

In the four-page order, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden said last week that the Department of Justice had "dragged its feet" in responding to a FOIA request filed by the government watchdog group Protect the Public's Trust that sought records from the FBI and other DOJ entities about their response to a September 2021 letter from the NSBA that requested the Biden administration and the DOJ investigate protests and threats against school board members under federal domestic terrorism laws.

Read more here.

See case docket and orders here.

FOIA News: CIA issues updated FOIA regulations

Following a public comment period last year, the Central Intelligence Agency has finalized amendments to its Freedom of Information Act regulations. The amendments, which are set forth in a Federal Register notice scheduled to be published on April 17, 2023. are effective immediately.

FOIA News: FOIA presentation on April 20

On April 20, 2023, the Omaha News Academy of Flatwater Free Press is sponsoring a 90-minute FOIA presentation entitiled “Freedom of Information Act: Challenges, Opportunities and Tips.” The presenters are Sara Gentzler, a reporter for Flatwater Free Press in Omaha, and Carol Zuegner, a journalist and Creighton University professor. Additional details available here.