The Office of Information Policy recently posted updated versions of two sections of the Department of Justice Guide to the Freedom of Information Act, specifically the Introduction (posted 12/3/24) and Exemption 7 (posted 12/5/24). A cursory examination of these updates indicates that OIP should not be taking a bow, however.
The Guide’s Introduction, which OIP had not updated since February 14, 2020, now contains a concluding paragraph addressing Attorney General Garland’s March 15, 2022 FOIA memorandum. Many of the revisions on the preceding pages are purely stylistic, for example, replacing straight quotes with smart quotes. For math lovers, this update to the 12-page Introduction took a whopping 1754 days. Granted, no update may have been really needed here until March 15, 2022, but the delay from that later date is still eye-opening at 994 days. Camelot this was not.
Regarding section Exemption 7, which OIP had not updated since January 27, 2022 (1043 days), OIP makes a startling statement in an asterisk footnote: “This section primarily includes case law, guidance, and statutes up until March 31, 2023. While some legal authorities after this date may be included, for a comprehensive accounting of all recent court decisions, please visit OIP’s Court Decisions webpage (https://www.justice.gov/oip/court-decisions-overview).” In other words, OIP apparently had better things to do than completing this Guide section. True to its word, OIP cited only three decisions from 2023. A search of OIP’s Court Decisions site, however, reveals that at least 20 more Exemption 7 threshold decisions—10 from 2023 and 10 from 2024—were on point.