The FOIA blog

Release of High Value Data Sets Criticized

A number of the "high value data sets" released on February 22 pursuant to a White House transparency plan are not very high value at all claims a number of critics in this Washington Post article.  According to the critics, the information, proactively posted on agency websites, are nothing more than data that was either already available or of little interest to anyone other than historians.

White House Responds to Article About Increased FOIA Litigation

Norm Eisen, special counsel to the President for ethics and government reform has responded to the Washington Post article that criticized the administration because FOIA litigation was still occurring despite President Obama's pro-disclosure FOIA policies.  Eisen says that the Post's numbers were incorrect, that disclosures have increased in the past year, and finally that change takes time (especially, in my opinion, because agencies are reluctant to embrace the new policies).

Along those lines, Ellen Miller, of the Sunlight Foundation, writes in the Huffington Post, about where the President's pro-disclosure and transparency polices should go next. 

Washington Post Finds It Suprising That There Are Still FOIA Lawsuits

This article in the Washington Post states that despite the President saying that his administration will be more open, there are still FOIA lawsuits being filed.  As long as there is a FOIA, there will be FOIA lawsuits, no matter what the President says.  While there are some problems with agencies implementing the President's FOIA policy, the fact that there are still FOIA lawsuits is not a real news story.  

I think the real (and more interesting ) story would be why haven't certain agencies implemented policies reflecting the President's FOIA statements and what has the Department of Justice done about this?

Maybe the Post will soon run a story about how after it rains, the sky is still blue.

Fed, SEC In Cahoots To Block Transparency

Reuters has this story about how the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission conspired to block public access to information about the AIG bailout, including from a FOIA request submitted to the SEC.

Obviously, neither the Fed nor the SEC has been told about the President's position on transparency and the FOIA.

Paul Harvey's FBI File Released

Now you know the rest of the story as the FBI has released its file on Paul Harvey.  Harvey was a frequent correspondent with the FBI according to the USA Today.

Update: The Washington Post has this feature story on Harvey and his FBI connections.

I think the bigger story here is how J. Edgar Hoover used journalists to his advantage--long before cable news networks were even a figment of anyone's imagination.

FOIA Ombudsman Update and a Rebuttal to Michael Isikoff

Main Justice reports that Miriam Nisbet, the Director of the Office of Government Services (better known as the FOIA Ombudsman's Office) gave an update on some of the things her office has been doing since its establishment last Fall.  Speaking on a panel she said they had been working with the Department of Justice to train government employees on FOIA.

In the article, Michael Isikoff, a Newsweek journalist, sounded off on what he perceives should be established--a FOIA requester advocates office in every agency because he says "FOIA requests are like a crap shoot, there's very little way in knowing how the process works."

Where do I begin with Mr. Isikoff's comments.  First, during the two years the FOIA amendments were going through Congress, I do not believe Mr. Isikoff ever came forward with any proposals to what should be established.  Next, there is an office in each agency akin to the FOIA requester advocate he argues for--that being the FOIA liaison.  I've had great success of late working with various agencies Liaisons.  Finally, as to the process itself.  If you don't know how the process works, you haven't been reading the FOIA blog!

Welcome

It's been awhile since I've welcomed readers to the blog and thanked you all for looking around the site.  For those of you new to the site, its been around since 2006 and it covers government disclosure issues like the Freedom of Information Act.  I mainly write about the federal disclosure laws, but I'll add some state items of interest in now and then.

When I'm not blogging, I practice government disclosure law.  Just click here to go to my law practice's website.

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OGIS Is Open For Business

The Office of Government Information Services ("OGIS") is up and running.  According to Federal Computer Week, OGIS is looking at incorporating online mediation as a means of resolving FOIA disputes.

Fed Makes Its Pitch

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve ("Fed") made its pitch to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals as to why it should be permitted to withhold information about taxpayer dollars borrowed by financial institutions.  According to the Fed, via its attorney from the Department of Justice, this information would lead to a negative connotation for the institution receiving the funds. 

The case is now before the three judge panel at the Second Circuit awaiting a decision.  Stay tuned.

OGIS To Host Briefing for Journalists

The Office of Government Information Services ("OGIS"), aka the FOIA Ombudsman's Office, will host a briefing for journalists on Thursday, January 14 at 10:00 at National Archives and Records Administration Headquarters in the District of Columbia.  More information can be found here.