Jobs, jobs, jobs: Weekly report July 15, 2024

Federal positions closing in the next 10 days

FOIA Assistant, Dep’t of Homeland Sec./CBP, GS 5-6, Wash., DC., closes 7/17/24.

Sup. Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of State, GS 14, Wash., D.C., closes 7/18/24 (non-public).

Att’y Advisor, Dep’t of Justice/OIP, GS 12-15, Wash., D.C., closes 7/21/24.

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Army, Nat’l Guard, GS 9, Frankfort, KY, closes 7/22/24 (non-public).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Def./DCSA, GG 9, Boyers, PA, closes 7/22/24.

Att’y Advisor, Dep’t of Justice/EOIR, GS 13-14, Falls Church, VA, closes 7/24/24 (non-public).

Court opinion issued July 11, 2024

Franklin v. Wormuth (D. Md.) -- determining that: (1) Department of the Army established that it performed adequate search for three of four categories of records pertaining to agency’s response to plaintiff’s EEO complaint, but denying summary judgment for one category because agency’s search description was “remarkably thin”; and (2) Army properly relied on Exemptions 6 and 7(C) to redact identifying information about third parties from Army police report.

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

FOIA News: ICYMI, CRS issues updated FOIA overview

On June 27, 2024, the Congressional Research Service issued an updated version of The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): A Legal Overview. The sixth version of CRS’s overview is 61 pages long with 513 footnotes.

FOIA News: FOIA Forum on July 31st

404 Media will be hosting its fourth FOIA Forum for paid subscribers on July 31, 2024, at 1pm EDT. The main guest speaker will be Seamus Hughes, who runs Court Watch. See more details here.

Court opinion issued July 9, 2024

Lovelace v. DOJ (D. Utah) -- recommending that court dismiss pro se plaintiff’s claim concerning FBI’s 2016 FOIA response, because plaintiff failed to file an administrative appeal with DOJ’s Office of Information Policy.

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

FOIA News: OIP hosting workshop 7/31/24

Register Now for an Upcoming FOIA Best Practices Workshop on Backlog Reduction Plans

DOJ/OIP, FOIA Post, July 9, 2024

Join the Office of Information Policy (OIP) at its next Best Practices Workshop on creating and implementing backlog reduction plans.  Developing effective backlog reduction plans is critical to managing ever-increasing volumes of requests.  The workshop will feature panelists from agencies with varied FOIA workloads discussing their own backlog reduction efforts.     

The workshop will take place virtually over WebEx on July 31, 2024 from 10 AM – 12 PM EDT.  A summary of the best practices discussed will be posted on OIP’s Best Practices page.

This event is open to all agency FOIA professionals.  Federal employees may register here.  

For questions or more information, please contact OIP at DOJ.OIP.FOIA@usdoj.gov.

FOIA News: PTO defends Exemption 5 redactions

Patent Office Continues To Fight Smartflash's FOIA Suit

By Adam Lidgett, Law 360, July 8, 2024

The U. S. Patent and Trademark Office has again said it shouldn't have to turn over documents an inventor is seeking about Patent Trial and Appeal Board reviews of his patents, saying that doing so would harm its ability to respond to public information requests. . . .

The federal government on Monday filed a reply brief backing its bid for summary judgment in the case filed y Smartflash LLC, which is owned by inventor Patrick Racz.

Smartflash had said the PTAB panels in its cases were manipulated to benefit challenger Apple, and the the documents it got from the office in response to its Freedom of Information Act requests omitted too much information to provide clarity. The company had said that the emails were improperly redacted and that it was treated differently from other patent owners, according to court records.

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

The docket and complaint are available here.

Court opinion issued July 3, 2024

Heritage Found. v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- ruling that government reasonably searched for records pertaining to Robert Hunter Biden and did not act in bad faith, rejecting plaintiff’s argument that agency custodians were inappropriately tasked with searching their own records about their own alleged misconduct.

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

Jobs, jobs, jobs: Weekly report July 8, 2024

Federal positions closing in the next 10 days

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Def/OSD, GS 13, Alexandria, VA, closes 7/10/24 (non-public).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Navy, GS 9-11, Arlington, VA, closes 7/10/24 (non-public).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Veterans Affairs/VHA, GS 11-12, closes 7/10/24 (non-public).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Health & Human Serv./CMS, GS 14, Woodlawn, MD, closes 7/13/24 (non-public).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Army, GS 7-9, Fort Campbell, KY, closes 7/15.24 (non-public).

Sup. Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of State, GS 14, Wash., D.C., closes 7/18/24 (non-public).

Federal positions closing on or after July 19, 2024

Attorney Advisor, Dep’t of Justice/OIP, GS 12-15, Wash., D.C., closes 7/21/24.

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Army, Nat’l Guard, GS 9, Frankfort, KY, closes 7/22/24 (non-public).

FOIA News: Happy 58th Anniversary

July 4 — The 58th Anniversary of The Freedom of Information Act

By Floyd Nelson, Blue Ridge Leader & Loudoun Today, July 4, 2024

More than 50 years ago, Michael Ross Lemov was still a young, intrepid general counsel who had just finished working on the National Commission on Product Safety, the forerunner to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. That was the time he told me he started working for the late California Congressman John Moss, the primary author, the champion and the driving force behind the Freedom of Information Act.

Thus marked the beginning of a friendship, mentorship and joint commitment to American democracy and open government. Mind you, Moss had already single-handedly brought the Freedom of Information Act or FOIA into being in 1966.

Read more here.