FOIA News: Archivists issue statement re: NIH controversy

SAA Urges Adherence to FOIA and FRA Rules by NIH

Press Release, Society of American Archivists, June 24, 2024

The Society of American Archivists (SAA) notes with concern the correspondence released by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic from Dr. David Morens and other officials at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) referencing the use of private email accounts for the specific purpose of avoiding disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). SAA leadership is particularly concerned by the implication from a subset of the released correspondence that dedicated records staff within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may be providing guidance for avoiding FOIA requests. 

Read more here.

Court opinion issued June 25, 2024

Radar Online LLC v. FBI (S.D.N.Y.) -- on renewed summary judgment, ruling that FBI properly relied on Exemption 7(A) to withhold certain records pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein because disclosure could reasonably be expected to interfere with related prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell, whose case is on appeal.

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2024 are available here. Earlier opinions are available here.

FOIA News: OGIS annual meeting on 7/24/24

The Office of Government Information Services will hold its annual meeting on July 24, 2024, per a notice published today in the Federal Register. The purpose of the meeting is “to discuss OGIS's reviews and reports, and allow interested people to appear and present oral or written statements.” The 90-minute, virtual meeting will begin at 10am EDT. Registration is required.

FOIA News: Upcoming private sector FOIA/PA training

The American Society of Access Professionals is offering a three-day, in-person FOIA-Privacy Act workshop in Pittsburgh starting September 4, 2024.

Graduate School USA has three-day, virtual FOIA/PA training starting July 16, 2024, August 5, 2024, and September 30, 2024.

Management Concepts offers a virtual, three-day FOIA/PA course beginning September 23, 2024.

Jobs, jobs. jobs: Weekly report 6/24/24

Federal positions closing in the next 10 days

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Navy, GS 12, Jacksonville, FL, closes 6/24/24 (non-public).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Air Force/ANG, GS 12, Arlington, VA, closes 6/25/24.

Att’y-Advisor, Dep’t of Justice/OIP, GS 12-15, Washington, D.C, closes 6/27/24.

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, GS 14, Wash, D.C., closes 6/28/24 (non-public).

Sup. Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Army, GS 13, Fort Meade, MD, closes 6/28/24.

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Justice/CRM, GS 9, Wash., D.C., closes 6/28/24 (recent graduates).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Justice/NSD, Wash., D.C., GS 7-9, closes 7/1/24 (recent graduates)

Sup. Att’y Advisor, Nat’l Labor Relations Bd., GS 15, Wash., D.C., closes 7/1/24 (internal to NLRB).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Treasury/IRS, GS 14, various locations, closes 7/2/24 (non-public).

Court opinion issued June 21, 2024

Mayor of Baltimore v. ATF (D.D.C.) -- denying renewed motion of the National Sporting Sports Foundation (NSSF) to intervene in case involving certain firearm trace records because NSSF lacked standing. The court noted, among other things, that NSSF failed to explain “why the ATF has not adequately represented its interests with respect to Exemption 3,” that NSSF had been permitted to file an amicus brief, and that NSSF would be permitted to be heard at any oral argument.

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2024 are available here. Earlier opinions are available here.

FOIA News: Deadline approaching to comment on Stars & Stripes regulations

Military paper moves to defend its 1st Amendment rights

By Liam Scott, Voice of America, June 21, 2024

Supporters of the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes are using a public consultation period on the outlet’s regulations to try to roll back what they say are restrictive rules.

Funded in part by the Department of Defense but editorially independent by order of Congress, the Stripes has operated under the same Federal Register regulations since 1993.

But with updates to those rules open to public comment until Monday, journalists and media analysts are drawing attention to three longstanding articles they believe should be relaxed or scrapped entirely.

These include vague wording that doesn’t explicitly authorize reporters to ask questions of Defense Department officials, as well as regulations that block the paper’s staff from filing Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, requests or from publishing classified information that was legally obtained.

Read more here.

See proposed regulations here.

Court opinion issued June 20, 2024

Nat'l Pub. Radio v. U.S Cent. Command (9th Cir.) (unpublished) -- in a partially split decision, affirming in part and reversing in part the district court’s decision that agency adequately searched for records pertaining to a 2004 friendly-fire incident during the Iraq War. The majority held, in part, that plaintiff pointed to clear leads of overlooked records that were “likely created to investigate one of the worst friendly-fire incidents in Marine Corps’ modern history.” The partial dissent opined that the search was adequate “beyond a reasonable doubt” because the agency’s good-faith declarations were reasonably detailed, and no genuine evidence indicated that a different database also should have been searched.

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2024 are available here. Earlier opinions are available here.

Court opinion issued June 17, 2024

Malone v. USPTO (E.D. Va.) -- ruling that: (1) agency properly relied on Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege to withhold communications between certain panelists and non-panelists—all agency employees—about draft decisions, and declining to conclude that those communications were unconstitutional or violated the Administrative Procedures Act; and (2) plaintiff was ineligible for an award of attorney’s fees because he failed to establish that his lawsuit had any more than a minimal impact on the agency’s responses to his requests.

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2024 are available here. Earlier opinions are available here.

Jobs, jobs, jobs: Closing fast

On June 17, 2024, the Department of Veterans Affairs posted a vacancy announcement for a Supervisory Government Information Specialist that closes on June 21, 2024. The position is with the Veterans Benefits Administration in Washington, DC, at a GS-14 pay scale.