FOIA News: In 2009, he filed a freedom of information request. Twelve years later he got answers

In 2009, he filed a freedom of information request. Twelve years later he got answers

By Asma Khalid, NPR, Oct. 24, 2021

The media's primary role in a functioning democracy is to hold the government accountable and keep citizens informed. And in order to do that, a free press needs access to certain documents, from FBI investigations to court filings, which brings us to the reporter's best friend or biggest headache. Those are the requests they file under the Freedom Of Information Act, or FOIA. That's where reporters hoping to dig into a story ask a government agency for information that they want. And then they wait and wait and wait and wait for weeks, for months and, in the case of Bruce Alpert, 12 years.

Read more here.

FOIA News: 9th Circuit considers intervention request by Volkswagen

9th Circ. Mulls VW Intervening In Fight For Jones Day Report

By Lauren Berg, Law360, Oct. 21, 2021

A Ninth Circuit judge questioned when a third party must intervene in a suit involving its interests, indicating during oral arguments Thursday that Volkswagen was timely in its bid for a say on whether the government should release an internal VW investigation conducted by Jones Day. During remote arguments for Volkswagen's appeal, U. S. Circuit Judge John B. Owens said Ninth Circuit precedent states that a third party doesn't have to intervene as soon as it becomes aware of a lawsuit involving its interests but can timely jump in when it knows its interests won't be adequately represented.

Read more here (accessible with free 7-day trial).

FOIA News: D.C. Circuit to resume in-person arguments with FOIA case

When the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit resumes in-person hearings on December 1, 2021, one of its first three cases will be a FOIA case: Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Wash. v. DOJ, No. 21-5113, which concerns the use of the deliberative process privilege to withhold portions of a legal memorandum concerning Special Counsel Mueller’s report.

FOIA News: Jason Baron to reveal FOIA "secrets"

University of Maryland professor and former NARA litigator Jason Baron will lead a FOIA discussion on November 17, 2021, entitled “Secrets of the Freedom of the Information Act: Everything you need to know about the FOIA process (including finding out where the Roswell documents are).”

See here for more details about the event.

FOIA News: NY Times on the death of Russ Kick

Russ Kick, ‘Rogue Transparency Activist,’ Is Dead at 52

Working on his own, he used the Freedom of Information Act to publish suppressed documents, sometimes making front-page news.

By Katherine Q. Seelye, NY Times, Oct. 14, 2021

On the eve of the American-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the Pentagon banned media coverage of the return of the remains of dead soldiers to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

By November, as the death toll rose, Russ Kick, a self-taught expert at digging up information, filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for all the images of coffins arriving at Dover since the war began.

Read more here.

FOIA News: D.C. Circuit hears FOIA argument

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard oral argument on Wednesday in Electronic Privacy Info. Ctr. v. DOJ, No. 20-5364, which concerns access to portions of the Mueller Report that discuss the special counsel’s reasons for not charging certain individuals.

FOIA News: Should Company Diversity Data be Protected under Ex. 4?

Op-Ed: Corporation Claims Diversity Data Is Secret. That’s A Problem for Journalism––and Democracy

By Victoria Baranetsky & Shawn Musgrave. Columbia Journalism Rev., Oct. 12, 2021

EARLIER THIS YEAR, Synopsys, Inc., a Silicon Valley-based technology company and federal contractor that produces computer chips and software, published its demographic diversity data on its website. The company’s “talent snapshot” for 2020 showed that just 1 percent of its overall employees in the United States were Black, 3 percent were Hispanic/Latinx, and just 23 percent of its global employees were women. That same company now claims in federal court that the raw numbers underneath these public percentages are a trade secret and thus exempt from government disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Read more here.

FOIA News: Technology Committee Publishes Paper on FOIA Searches

Technology Committee Publishes Paper on FOIA Searches

By Kirsten Mitchell, The FOIA Ombudsman, Oct. 8. 2021

There is a wide gap in public understanding of agencies’ abilities to search their electronic archives and databases for records responsive to FOIA requests and the reality of agencies’ capabilities, according to a new paper, “FOIA Searches: Key Challenges and Findings,” published by a working group of the Chief FOIA Officers Council’s Technology Committee. 

Other key findings of the FOIA Searches working group are that the strategies and tools federal agencies use to conduct searches vary greatly, and email searches remain a challenge for agencies. 

The paper also provides tips for requesters including searching FOIA Libraries and the web before submitting a FOIA request which could either negate the need for a request or help develop and scope a new one. 

Read more here.

P.S. See also DOJ/OIP’s October 1st article on FOIA Post.

FOIA News: "Saving the Freedom of Information Act"

University of Denver professor Margaret Kwoka has authored a new book entitled “Saving the Freedom of Information Act,” in which Professor Kwoka “proposes a series of structural solutions aimed at shrinking FOIA to re-center its oversight purposes.”

The National Archives and Records Administration will be airing a discussion about the book on its YouTube channel on November 18, 2021.

FOIA News: Commentary on D.C. Circuit’s research data decision

DC Circ.'s Exploratory Data Ruling Is A Win For Transparency

By Lawrence Ebner & David Kanter, Law 360, Oct. 5, 2021

When scientists employed by universities, nonprofit institutes or corporations publish scientific studies, they routinely make their underlying research data available to peer reviewers and anyone else who is interested. A recent U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decision, Pavement Coatings Technology Council v. United States Geological Survey, confirms that federal government scientists should be no different. They cannot shield their published work from professional, industry or public criticism by invoking Freedom of Information Act Exemption 5 — the deliberative process privilege — as a reason for refusing to disclose their exploratory research data.

Read more here (accessible with free trial subscription).