The FOIA blog

HUD FOIA Tracking System Down

ProPublica has this on HUD's contract for the system for processing and tracking FOIA requests.  The contract ran out during the government shutdown and hasn't yet been renewed - so the agency is scrambling to process and track FOIA requests.  One would think that managing an agency and its FOIA program should be easier than brain surgery, however it appears that this may not be the case. 

Supreme Court Sets Date for Exemption 4 Arguments

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on April 22 in the Exemption 4 case brought by an association attempting to stop the government from releasing information to the Argus Leader newspaper.  The Argus Leader has additional details here.

Nestle Trade Secrets Protected Pursuant To Exemption 4

Courthouse News Service has this on an attempt to learn more about Nestle's use of water from public lands -- a District Court in the District of Columbia ruled that the global giant's trade secrets were protected pursuant to Exemption 4 of the FOIA; however, names of some of its employees needed to be released in the public interest following a balancing test of Exemption 6. 

Of course, Exemption 4 may see some changes in the upcoming year as it is headed to the Supreme Court in the coming months.

Deloitte Enters FOIA Management Space

Deloitte, a big four accounting firm, has started a FOIA practice to help agencies manage FOIA requests.  As many readers know, this space has largely been inhabited by smaller vendors - it will be interesting to see if this product is different from those already on the market and whether it can get any traction at the federal or state/local level.

Oversight Idea

I just spent time trying to find an agency's FOIA liaison because the agency failed to properly read the request and closed it.  I finally found the contact by a google search because the agency did not post the liaison information on its website (as is required by law).  Further, when you call the number, you get a 3 minute message before you can even leave a voice mail.

This is obviously not the intent of the law establishing FOIA liaisons -  An audit of these offices and an oversight investigation is probably something that could improve these offices.  Hopefully, the House Oversight Committee or Senate Judiciary Committee will look into this issue during the current Congressional term.