FOIA News: Heritage asks court to reconsider Prince Harry case

Think Tank Wants Judge To Redo Prince Harry Records Review

By Britain Eakin, Law360, Oct. 23, 2024

Conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation asked a D. C. federal judge to reconsider his denial of access to Prince Harry's visa records, saying the judge didn't follow the proper process for reviewing case records privately.

Following a hearing earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols ordered the federal government to submit declarations explaining what harm would come from public disclosure of Prince Harry’s immigration records, which the Heritage Foundation sought through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Judge Nichols reviewed the declarations privately, without the Heritage Foundation being able to see them, and determined that Prince Harry’s immigration records were rightfully withheld to protect his privacy. The Heritage Foundation contends the judge was required by D.C. Circuit precedent to review all documents responsive to its FOIA request first, but said in a request for reconsideration on Tuesday that didn’t happen here.

Read more here (accessible with free trial).

FOIA News: Nonprofits end dispute with ICE over alleged sterilization records

ICE, Nonprofits End FOIA Row Over Alleged Sterilization Docs

By Gina Kim, Law360, Oct. 23, 2024

Three nonprofits dismissed their Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeking records related to unnecessary and "nonconsensual" gynecological procedures performed on immigrant detainees at an ICE detention center in Georgia, according to a notice filed Wednesday in D.C. federal court.

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Wednesday’s notice provided to U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly marks the end of a four-year litigation commenced in 2020 by nonprofits Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, which alleged that ICE ignored their requests seeking records about “forced unnecessary” medical procedures, including gynecological procedures, allegedly carried at Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilia, Georgia.

Read more here (accessible with free trial).

FOIA News: Can you hear me now?

Cell Phone Dangers Prompt FOIA Requests

FOIAengine: Questions from Siri & Glimstad Point to Possible Litigation

By David Nayer, Law St. Media, Oct. 23, 2024

Does radiation from cell phones and cell towers affect human health?  There has long been controversy around this question, which the federal government has tried to put to rest by issuing findings that there is no clear evidence of a health impact and by refuting earlier studies that found that biological changes associated with radiofrequency radiation. But, as recent Freedom of Information Act requests demonstrate, the controversy isn’t going away. 

According to PoliScio Analytics’ competitive-intelligence database FOIAengine, which tracks FOIA requests in as close to real-time as their availability allows, 20 cell phone and cell tower radiation requests have been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute of Health since January of 2021.

Read more here.

FOIA News: DC Circuit to hear argument in FOIA "clawback" case

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear oral argument in Human Rights Defense Center v. U.S. Park Police (No. 23-5236) on October 24, 2024. The issues on appeal are (1) whether the agency proper applied Exemption 6 to withhold names of federal officers whose behavior gave rise to federal tort claims settled by the agency, and (2) whether a federal court has the inherent authority to order the “claw back” of records an agency argues were inadvertently disclosed.

The district court ruled in the government’s favor.

Livestream audio is available here.

(NB: FOIA Advisor’s Ryan Mulvey authored an amicus brief in support of Appellant HRDC, which he filed on behalf of his employer, Americans for Prosperity Foundation.)

FOIA News: Army must expedite FOIA request about Trump’s visit to Arlington Cemetery

Judge orders Pentagon to release records of Trump controversial Arlington Cemetery visit

By Josh Meyer, USA Today, Oct. 22, 2024

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Army officials to release internal records regarding former President Donald Trump’s controversial August visit to Arlington National Cemetery by the end of the week.

Judge Paul Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the request Monday in response to a lawsuit brought by American Oversight, a non-partisan group dedicated to getting the government to release records. He signed the order Tuesday, the group said.

American Oversight said it sued for the rapid release of military records, including any incident reports from the Aug. 26 incident, following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

Read more here.

FOIA News: SCOTUS declines to hear challenge to CPSC’s commissioners initiated via FOIA

Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Let President Fire Agency Leaders

By Greg Stohr, BNN Bloomberg, Oct. 21, 2024

The US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal that sought to give the president control over agencies that have long operated independently, potentially including the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission.

The appeal, pressed by two research organizations in a case involving the Consumer Product Safety Commission, contended that the Constitution gives the president broad power to fire the leaders of executive-branch agencies. It called into question a 1935 Supreme Court precedent that has become a top target for anti-regulatory groups. 

The court, as is its custom when turning away an appeal, made no comment, and no justice publicly dissented.

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The research groups sued the CPSC over its handling of Freedom of Information Act requests. In urging the court to reject the appeal, the Biden administration said the FOIA requests are insufficient to give the groups legal standing to challenge the commissioners’ job protections.

Read more here.

FOIA News: CFO Council to meet Nov. 7, 2024

Virtual Meeting of the Chief FOIA Officers Council

DOJ/OIP, FOIA Post, Oct. 16, 2024

The Office of Information Policy (OIP) is pleased to announce that the Chief FOIA Officers (CFO) Council will hold a virtual meeting on Thursday, November 7th 2024 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM ET.    

The CFO Council meeting is open to all agency FOIA professionals and members of the public.  Time will be provided for members of the public to address the Council.  Registration is required on Eventbrite.  All attendees must register by 11:59 PM ET on Monday, November 4, 2024.  The meeting will also be livestreamed on the National Archives' YouTube channel.

Read more here.

FOIA News: OIP issues summary and assessment of Chief FOIA Officer Reports

Summary and Assessment of Agency 2024 Chief FOIA Officer Reports and New Guidelines for 2025 CFO Reports Issued

By DOJ/OIP, FOIA Post, Oct. 15, 2024

Today the Office of Information Policy (OIP) is pleased to release its summary and assessment of agencies’ 2024 Chief FOIA Officer (CFO) Reports.  OIP’s 2024 summary and assessment focuses on steps agencies have taken to improve FOIA administration in five key areas highlighted in the Attorney General’s 2022 FOIA Guidelines:

• FOIA Leadership and Applying a Presumption of Openness;

• Ensuring Fair and Effective FOIA Administration;

• Proactive Disclosures;

• Utilizing Technology to Improve Efficiency; and

• Steps Taken to Remove Barriers to Access, Improve Timelines, and Reduce Backlogs.

This past March marked the fifteenth year that agency CFOs submitted these reports to the Department of Justice.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Tech executive suggests tech solutions to handle record number of requests

The federal government is likely to receive a record number of FOIA requests again in 2024

Integrating AI-powered tools into FOIA processing could be a game changer, reducing backlogs, lowering costs, and improving accuracy.

By Amy Hilbert, Commentary, Gov’t Exec., Oct. 15, 2024

In recent years, the federal government has seen a sharp rise in the volume and complexity of Freedom of Information Act requests, creating an overwhelming challenge for government agencies.  

In fiscal year 2023, the federal government received an all-time high of 1,199,644 FOIA requests — a staggering 29% increase from the previous year. According to preliminary data from FOIA.gov, this surge shows no signs of slowing down. In the first three quarters of FY 2024, the federal government has already received more than 928,000 requests — an increase of more than 18% from the same period in the previous year. If the final quarter follows a similar pattern, the number of FOIA submissions will easily surpass 1.3 million for the year. 

This rising volume underscores the public's increasing desire for transparency and accountability. However, the sheer number of requests is only part of the story. The complexity of these requests is also evolving, posing further challenges for government agencies already struggling with reduced staffing levels and outdated technologies. 

This perfect storm of expanding demand and stagnant capabilities has created significant backlogs across many agencies and significantly increased processing and litigation costs. These trends are forcing agencies to rethink how they handle public information requests, with many looking to advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence to alleviate the burden. 

Read more here.

FOIA News: Heritage Foundation's FOIA blitz divides practitioners

The Heritage Foundation’s Reckless Misuse of FOIA to Target Individuals

By Michael Ravnitzky, LLRX, Oct. 9, 2024

The Heritage Foundation’s current public records campaign is an outright abuse of the FOIA process. In recent years, the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project and its publishing spinoff, The Daily Signal, have filed an unprecedented and overwhelming number of FOIA requests – 65,000 according to Reuters and more than 50,000 according to ProPublica. Esquire magazine https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a62513971/heritage-foundation-foia-requests/ described the volume of requests as “spamming the federal government”.

According to the articles, https://www.propublica.org/article/have-government-employees-mentioned-climate-change-voting-or-gender-identity-the-heritage-foundation-wants-to-know ; https://www.reuters.com/world/us/conservative-think-tank-targeting-nasa-employees-communications-about-musk-trump-2024-10-04/ the goal of the requests is to scrutinize government employees’ communications, to identify (for example, individuals using keywords or phrases such as “climate change”, “reduction in force” or DEI) and potentially remove civil servants perceived as obstructive to Trump’s agenda, in preparation for a potential Trump administration.

Read more here.

Heritage Foundation sends lots of FOIAs. That shouldn’t be a problem

By Lauren Harper, Freedom of the Press Found., Oct. 8, 2024

The Heritage Foundation sends a lot of Freedom of Information Act requests about progressive issues, from climate change to policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and it’s causing a stir.

A recent ProPublica article detailed the FOIA campaign, which is allegedly part of Project 2025’s effort to identify agency officials for potential firing.

ProPublica, which obtained the information for its article through its own FOIA requests, suggests that the hundreds of Heritage Foundation requests may intimidate public officials and prevent FOIA offices from effectively responding to “legitimate” requests by clogging the FOIA queues.

Reporting how the Heritage Foundation may use FOIA responses to gut the federal workforce is a worthy endeavor. Implying that FOIAs are illegitimate when the goal is partisan is a slippery slope that could give other agencies an excuse to deny requests they don’t like.

Most importantly, it is not the requesters' fault, even if they are frequent requesters, that the government can’t effectively search and review large amounts of records.

Read more here.