The FOIA blog

Fox Business Network Discovers the FOIA

After eight years of an administration that ignored the FOIA, Fox Business Network has now discovered that the FOIA exists and, believe it or not, the government doesn't release all the records it has nor does it do so on a timely basis.

In claiming victory in its lawsuit against the Treasury Department for information on TARP funds, Fox Business Network is amazed that a great deal of information is redacted.  Fox Business Network also is amazed that the government stalls in the timing of its releases claiming FOIA backlogs.

I'm not excusing the government here, but as those of you who follow the FOIA know, this is not a problem that began to occur on January 21, 2009.  It has been occuring since the FOIA was enacted and was made worse on January 21, 2001 by an administration that didn't really care about transparency.  On behalf of the rest of the FOIA community, I say to Fox Business Network, "welcome to our world."

Note to readers:  If you read this entry previously it said Fox News instead of Fox Business Network.  I have been informed (by Fox Business Network) that it is a seperate and more recent entity and is not the same as Fox News (even though they are ultimately owned by the same company).  So I stand corrected and Fox News has still discovered the FOIA.

FDA Seeks Regulatory Counsel

The FDA is seeking a regulatory counsel to assist in processing FOIA requests.  More information on this can be found here.  More FOIA job openings can be found on the American Society for Access Professional's website.

DOD IG Seeking FOIA Analyst

The Department of Defense Inspector General is seeking a FOIA Analyst.  The job vacancy announcement can be found here.

This position is open to all U.S. citizens.

Movement to Make First Lady Subject to FACA

From Josh Gerstein at Politco, there is a movement by the GOP to make the First Lady subject to FACA.  This was an issue in the first term of the Clinton administration.

Interesting Decision in Exemption 5 and 7(A) Case

In a case before U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Columbia Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, it has been held that the government has failed to establish that Exemption 5 and 7(A) apply for withholding certain documents.

It wasn't a complete loss for the government, as the court found many of the documents to be exempt from the FOIA.  However, one exemption 5 document that the State Department was attempting to withhold was found to be post-decisional.  Further, the Department of Homeland Security's failure to establish a pending or prospective enforcement proceedings led the court to rule that it didn't establish that exemption 7(A) applied to 86 pages of material.  The court further found that State and Homeland Security did not adequately explain why it couldn't segregate information on the withheld pages.

The agencies will now attempt to further explain segregability and Homeland Security will take another crack at justifying its use of exemption 7(A).

Court Orders Attorney Fee Statute Not Retroactive

Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has ruled that the attorney fee provisions in the Open Government Act of 2007 are not retroactive.  A magistrate judge had came to a different conclusion and the Department of Justice disagreed, bringing the issue before Judge Kennedy.   

More Reaction to Holder Memo

Here's more reaction to the Holder Memo on the FOIA:

Dallas Morning News

Secrecy News (Secrecy News talks about a test to the Holder Memo in a FOIA request it's organization, the Federation of American Scientists has made.)

The Public Record

My Latest Article

is now up at LLRX.com.  In it, I discuss what exemptions I believe are/or could be impacted by the President and the Attorney General's FOIA memorandum.

Fox Business News Sues SEC Over Stanford Records

According to this report, Fox Business News has sued the SEC concerning its request for records on alleged Ponzi-schemer Allen Stanford.

ASAP Announces Spring D.C. Training

The American Society of Access Professionals has announced it's FOIA training for May 12, 13 and 14, 2009.  More information can be located here.