Court opinion issued Dec. 21, 2023

Magassa v. TSA (D.C. Cir.) (unpublished) -- affirming district court’s decision that: (1) TSA properly withheld security screening records concerning plaintiff pursuant to Exemption 3 in conjunction with 49 U.S.C. § 114(r); (2) TSA properly relied on Exemption 6 to withhold names of certain TSA agents associated with screening plaintiff; (3) agency performed adequate search in response to plaintiff’s request; and (4) plaintiff could not challenge agency’s Glomar response as to whether plaintiff appeared on terrorist watch lists, because he failed to raise the issue in his administrative appeal.

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.

FOIA News: Federal Reserve banks adopt records disclosure policy

Fed’s 12 regional banks adopt records transparency policy

The policy, released by the New York Fed, will be effective Jan. 1 and “seeks to simplify and standardize the Federal Reserve Banks’ public information request process,” the central bank said.

By Rajashree Chakravarty, Banking Dive, Dec. 22, 2023

The 12 regional Federal Reserve banks announced Thursday the adoption of a new common policy promoting transparency and accountability for media and public records requests, effective Jan. 1, 2024.

Unlike the Fed’s Board of Governors, which falls under the U.S. government’s purview, the Fed’s regional banks have not previously been subject to Freedom of Information Act requests.

The policy released by the New York Federal Reserve noted that, unless otherwise exempt, records created on or after Jan. 1, 2024, “will be published or provided upon request.”

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Dec. 20, 2023

Muzumala v. FBI (S.D.N.Y.) -- finding that: (1) FBI timely responded to plaintiff’s request by regular mail to plaintiff’s last known address, rejecting plaintiff’s argument that he was entitled to a response via email; (2) FBI performed a reasonable search for records concerning plaintiff, who provided no evidence that agency had responsive records; and (3) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement performed adequate search for records concerning plaintiff and properly withheld certain records pursuant to Exemption 3 in conjunction with 49 U.S.C. § 114(r), as well as Exemptions 6, 7(C), and 7(E).

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.

FOIA News: OMB to amend FOIA and Privacy Act regulations

The Office of Management and Budget will amend both its Privacy Act and FOIA regulations, “notably with regard to identity verification,” according to a proposed rule published in the Federal Register on December 20, 2023. Comments will be accepted through January 19, 2023.

Court opinions issued Dec. 19, 2023

Am. Civil. Liberties Union of Mass. v. DHS (D. Mass.) -- following in camera review of disputed records, concluding that DHS properly relied on Exemption 7(E) to withhold portion of its “Criminal Gangs Investigations Handbook” that contained “detailed definitions and the specific criteria that [the agency] considers when identifying gangs, criminal activity, and gang members.”

Lindsay-Poland v. DOJ (N.D. Cal.) -- ruling that: (1) even if an appropriations rider protected certain firearms information pursuant to Exemption 3, an exception to that rider permitted disclosure of certain “statistical aggregate data” to plaintiff because he was a news media representative or the functional equivalent; and (2) agency failed to adequately show that release of zip code data would violate the privacy of certain licensees and fall outside the bounds of “statistical aggregate data.”

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.

FOIA News: OGIS wish list diplomatically omits "a bigger budget"

OGIS 2023 Holiday Wish List

By Office of Gov’t Info. Serv., FOIA Ombudsman, Dec. 20, 2023

Last year we shared our OGIS Holiday Wish List here on The FOIA Ombudsman. The jolly man from the North Pole did not bring us our wishes, so we are revising it to reflect upon what OGIS has encountered over the past year. As we look to 2024 these wishes would go a long way toward improving the FOIA processes for both requesters and agencies. 

Read more here.

FOIA News: Nominate the worst agency of 2023

There’s still time to nominate an agency for the “Foilies,” to shine light on those who are involved in all sorts of transparency-thwarting.

Court opinion issued Dec. 15, 2023

Voice of San Diego v. NCIS (S.D. Cal.) -- determining that: (1) Navy performed adequate search for records concerning its investigations into suicides of certain service members; and (2) government’s explanations for privacy withholdings in the Vaughn Index were too “boilerplate and conclusory” to permit the court to conduct required balancing test; noting that government’s terse descriptions nonetheless suggested that “substantial privacy interests” were at stake, and that court harbored doubt that plaintiff could show an overriding public interest in disclosure.

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.

Court opinions issued Dec. 7 & 13, 2023

Dec. 13, 2023

Ulis v. FBI (D.D.C.) -- ruling that FBI properly refused to release the clip-on necktie of D.B. Cooper, because tangible objects are not reproducible and do not qualify as agency records.

Dec. 7, 2023

Nagdy v. DOJ (W.D. Ky.) -- dismissing plaintiff’s claim against FBI because he failed to administratively appeal from the agency’s response to his request for records concerning his state-court criminal case.

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.

FOIA News: D.B. Cooper's Clip On Tie Not an Agency Record

D.B. Cooper's Clip On Tie

By Legal Profession Prof, Legal Profession Blog, Dec. 14, 2023

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Judge Cobb) denied a FOIA request, holding that D.B. Cooper's removed tie is not an "agency record."

Holding

For this case, however, it suffices to say that to call a clip-on necktie an “agency record” is not reasonable.

Read more here.

Read the decision here.