We have added 13 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between March 15, 2015 and March 21, 2015. These are associated with 13 FOIA cases pending in federal district court. read more…
We have added 79 documents from 17 FOIA cases filed between March 15, 2015 and March 21, 2015. read more…
NPR Covers ACLU FOIA Suit Against TSA
National Public Radio reported this morning on a FOIA suit filed last week against the Transportation Security Administration by the American Civil Liberties Union, which is seeking documents related to the TSA’s behavioral profiling program.
The FOIA Project’s daily updates of Freedom of Information Act lawsuits captured the documents related to this case, currently comprised of the docket and the complaint.
Complaints often make for interesting reading, and this one is no exception. In it, the ACLU notes that “government auditors have repeatedly questioned the basic premise underlying the TSA’s behavior detection programs: that human behaviors reflecting deception or ill-intent can be detected reliably and objectively.”
It then goes on to site a number of the audits, including a 2013 Department of Homeland Security Inspector General report that found the “TSA cannot ensure that passengers at United States airports are screened objectively, show that the program is cost effective, or reasonably justify the program’s expansion.”
The ACLU asked for a variety of documents related to the program — including information on training, disproportional effects on minorities, and measures of effectiveness — in an Oct. 1, 2014 FOIA request to the agency. On Oct. 10, the agency informed the ACLU that it had denied its requests for a fee waiver and expedited processing. On Dec. 8, the ACLU administratively appealed that finding.
After hearing nothing further pertaining to its appeal or the release of the documents, the ACLU filed suit on March 19th in the Southern District of New York , according to the court records.
CIA Responds to FOIA Failure Designation
The Central Intelligence Agency says that the fifth and final volume of a multi-volume history of the agency’s role in the Bay of Pigs Operation is not part of the Official History of the Bay of Pigs sought by the National Security Archive. It notes that two district court judges and an appellate court panel have agreed with the agency’s stance that Volume 5 is predecisional and part of the agency’s deliberative process. Therefore, it is properly exempt from disclosure under FOIA’s B5 Exemption.
The Archive nominated its battle with the CIA to get this multi-volume history for the FOIA Project’s FOIA Failure contest. The FOIA Project asked the Archive and five others who have brought multiple FOIA suits against the government to select a suit they felt represents a particularly egregious example of a failure to adequately comply with a FOIA request. The FOIA Project then asked the public to vote on the “worst of the worst” during Sunshine Week. The voting closed Friday morning (3/20/2015). The Archive’s case against the CIA was voted the winner, with 68 of 264 votes, one vote ahead of the second-place finisher, a case involving official assessments of the damage caused by the Edward Snowden leaks.
On Friday evening, at the request of the FOIA Project, CIA spokesperson Ryan Trapani provided this statement via e-mail:
CIA “Wins” Inaugural FOIA Failure Award
The National Security Archive first filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the Central Intelligence Agency’s five-volume Official History of the Bay of Pigs Operation a decade ago, in 2005.
But it wasn’t until 2011, when the Archive filed a lawsuit against the CIA on the eve of 50th anniversary of the botched invasion, that it received any documents. As the case slowly made its way through the courts, the CIA gradually relented on releasing various aspects of this multi-volume text.
The agency, however, steadfastly refused to release Volume 5, contending that the half-century old work was a draft and part of its internal deliberations, and therefore exempt from FOIA. The CIA also contended that release of the document wouldn’t serve history well, and would confuse the American public rather than enlighten it.
We have added 14 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between March 1, 2015 and March 14, 2015. These are associated with 14 FOIA cases pending in federal district court. read more…
We have added 143 documents from 22 FOIA cases filed between March 1, 2015 and March 14, 2015. read more…
FOIA Tales: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly
The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University specializes in using the Freedom of Information Act to collect, understand, structure, and analyze case-by-case data from federal agencies.
As such, it files a lot of FOIA requests, and has plenty of stories of agency heroics and horrors.
Lo and behold, right in the middle of Sunshine Week, another FOIA story came to TRAC’s door (TRAC administers the FOIA Project and this website).
We’ll call this one “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.”
The Good: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent TRAC a letter to acknowledged that it had received TRAC’s FOIA request.
The Bad: TRAC sent said FOIA request on July 3, 2014. The acknowledgement was dated March 13, 2015 — 253 days later. We received the letter on March 17 (kudos to the U.S. Postal Service for fulfilling its end of the bargain). The letter does not explain or even acknowledge the delay.
The Ugly: This is the first acknowledgement TRAC has received from the ATF after sending it eight requests dating back to June 18, 2013. All the requests were for basic records related to the agency’s FOIA logs. To date, no data have been received.
Vote for the Worst FOIA Failure
Biggest FOIA Fail?
- Bay of Pigs History (26%, 68 Votes)
- Snowden Damage (25%, 67 Votes)
- Kennedy FBI File (24%, 63 Votes)
- Secret Surveillance (13%, 33 Votes)
- FBI Drones (7%, 19 Votes)
- Awlaki Memo (5%, 14 Votes)
Total Voters: 264
Loading ...Democracy depends on educated citizens who know what their government is doing. The Freedom of Information Act is the federal law that empowers citizens to get information about the government, from the government. Yet many agencies routinely ignore the law, and FOIA requests often fall into a bureaucratic black hole.
Every year, several hundred frustrated requesters sue in federal court for the documents they have been blocked from receiving. We’ve asked six prominent journalists, open government advocates, and lawyers to highlight the FOIA failure they feel represents the most egregious example of improper withholding under FOIA.
Now we want you to vote on the worst of the worst!
We closed voting at 10 this morning (3/20/15). The vote counts reflected in the poll at right are the final counts. They include votes left on a companion poll by Android users who had trouble with the one on this page. We’ll be posting more on the results soon.
National Freedom of Information Day is Friday, and all of next week is Sunshine Week. These events honoring the importance of transparency and open government to our democracy are great pegs for stories about the Freedom of Information Act, the law that gives the public the right to obtain public documents.
Here’s a couple of ideas from TRAC’s FOIA Project.
Recent Tweets
7 days 
30 days 
over 30 days
