Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

As part of the efforts described in the Second Open Government National Action Plan (NAP) to modernize FOIA, the Administration has committed to developing common FOIA regulations and practices for agencies.   OIP is pleased to announce that this month we will host the kickoff meeting for the interagency process of developing a common set of FOIA regulations.  

Agencies promulgate FOIA regulations to procedurally assist in the implementation of certain provisions of the law, such as where and how to make a request.  While currently these regulations can vary between the ninety-nine agencies subject to the FOIA, the NAP recognized that “[c]ertain steps in the FOIA process are generally shared across Federal agencies . . . [and that] [s]tandardizing these common aspects through a core FOIA regulation and common set of practices would make it easier for requesters to understand and navigate the FOIA process and easier for the Government to keep regulations up to date.”

During this meeting, which is open to all agency FOIA personnel and interested agency regulatory specialists, we will begin discussing and collaborating on the content of potential common FOIA regulations and the next steps moving forward in this process.  As noted in the NAP, our goal for this initiative is to develop a common core FOIA regulation “that is both applicable to all agencies and retains flexibility for agency-specific requirements.”  The details for the meeting are:

Prior to this meeting, OIP will also meet with members of the FOIA requester community and civil society for initial input on the development of common FOIA regulations.  As we work on this important initiative, we look forward to regularly engaging all stakeholders throughout the process.

If you are interested in attending this kickoff meeting, you can register by e-mailing your name and phone number to OIP’s Training Officer at DOJ.OIP.FOIA@usdoj.gov with the subject line “Common FOIA Regulations Kickoff Meeting.”  If you have any questions regarding this meeting, please contact OIP’s Training Officer at (202) 514-3642.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Last month, Director Melanie Ann Pustay traveled to Beijing to participate in a series of workshops focusing on China’s Regulations on Open Government Information (OGI Regulations) in a program co-sponsored by Yale Law School’s China Law Center and China University of Politics and Law’s Center on Government by Law.  During this series, Director Pustay provided insight to academic and government participants from across China on key principles for access to information laws and shared examples from the United States’ own Freedom of Information Act.

The first workshop of the program, Revising China’s Open Government Information Regulations and Drafting a Law of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information, focused on a number of issues that have arisen since China implemented the OGI Regulations on May 1, 2008.  Workshop participants discussed these issues in detail and how they might best be addressed in light of international experience and China’s particular circumstances.  In addition to discussing the implementation of the FOIA in the United States, Director Pustay also shared her observations based on her previous work with China assisting them in the implementation of their OGI Regulations and her experiences in consulting with various foreign governments on the development or improvement of their information access laws.

During the second workshop, Director Pustay focused on the importance of government professionals receiving adequate training and guidance on the proper implementation of any OGI Regulation.  Director Pustay also emphasized the significance of good customer service and communication with requesters when implementing any access law.  As a part of her presentation, Director Pustay highlighted the key role in the United States of agency FOIA Public Liaisons and their statutory responsibility to assist requesters.

As with previous trips to other nations, Director Pustay’s trip stems from OIP’s core mission of encouraging federal agency compliance with the FOIA here in the United States.  OIP leadership and subject matter experts routinely meet with delegations from foreign governments and international organizations on the administration of the FOIA and the importance of information access laws.  A comprehensive listing of the events that OIP leadership and subject matter experts participate in throughout the year is available on the Key Dates page of our site.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Over the last five years, agency Chief Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer Reports have provided detailed descriptions of agency efforts to improve FOIA administration in five key areas addressed by Attorney General Holder’s FOIA Guidelines.  As a part of a series which started during Sunshine Week 2014, OIP continues to highlight in a series of posts some of the successes in these five key areas as reported by agencies in their 2014 Chief FOIA Officer Reports.

Increasing Proactive Disclosures

Both the President and the Attorney General have emphasized the need for agencies to work proactively to post information online without waiting for individual requests to be received.  As a part of the guidelines for the 2014 Chief FOIA Officer Reports, OIP asked agencies to detail the steps “taken to both increase the amount of material that is available on [their] website[s]” as well as “the usability of such information.”  In their reports for this year, agencies provided numerous details on the systems they have in place for identifying records for proactive disclosures, how they are making posted material more useful to the public, and how they are notifying the public of newly posted material. 

In order to answer the Attorney General’s call for agencies to “readily and systematically post information online” it is important that each agency have a process in place to identify records for proactive disclosures.  Utilizing different strategies tailored to serve the community of individuals who most frequent their websites, many agencies described the distinct processes they have put in place to identify records of public interest for proactive disclosures.  For example, FOIA professionals at the General Services Administration use their networking system to work with key agency offices to anticipate records of public interest that could be proactively disclosed online.  In addition to systematically reviewing records requested under the FOIA for posting online, the Office of Personnel Management routinely sends notices to program offices reminding them of the need to proactively disclose data and records.  At the Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services the FOIA Office works closely with program managers to identify and proactively post records for which there might be a high public interest. 

Using various methods to identify proactive disclosures, agencies also provided a wealth of examples of new or regularly updated information posted on their websites, including:

• The Department of Homeland Security has proactively posted over 16,000 pages of records since March 2013, including daily schedules of senior leaders and procurement records.

• With more frequency and in greater volume, components of the Department of Labor posted FOIA logs, annual reports, policy guidance, historical reports, mission reports, government purchase card holder lists, strategic plans, contracts information and listings, lists of accessioned documents, press releases, testimonies and speeches, workplace accident reports, investigations, audit reports, proposals and abstracts for grant applications, reports to Congress, Equal Employment Opportunity complaint data, veterans information and links on worker healthy living.

• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has continued to expand its Consumer Complaint Database, launched in June 2012 to include various types of complaints and data for over 176,000 complaints. 

• The Department of Energy’s website for agency data provides a central location for information about data released by the agency, including an agency-wide data index that provides metadata and URLs to publicly available datasets.

In addition to identifying and posting new material, agencies also detailed how they are taking steps to make posted material more useful to the public.  For example:

• The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management posted an interactive map displaying and describing its renewable energy-related activities in the United States. Similarly, Amtrak’s train locator map, an interactive tool created in partnership with Google, tracks any of the 300 daily trains operated by Amtrak and provides consumers with more accurate predicted arrival times.

• The U.S. Agency for International Development continues to make agency data available in standard, nonproprietary, and machine-readable formats, and solicits public feedback on the information that the agency makes available.  Users can interact with agency data, see how other members of the public are using the data, and leave questions or comments about the data for the agency to respond.

• At the Department of Agriculture, the Food and Safety Inspection Service uses an interactive resource called “Ask Karen” to provide information to consumers about preventing foodborne illness, safe food handling and storage, and safe preparation of meat, poultry and egg products.

Finally, agencies described in their 2014 Chief FOIA Officer Reports steps they are taking to publicize or highlight important proactive disclosures in order to inform the public of their availability, including using social media.   Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr are just some of the social media outlets used by agencies over the past year to highlight new postings.  These are just a few of the examples of the successes achieved by agencies in the past year in ensuring that they have taken steps to increase proactive disclosures.  OIP encourages both agencies and the public to review the individual 2014 Chief FOIA Officer Reports issued by agencies for even more examples.  Be sure to continue reading FOIA Post for more information on the Department’s continuing efforts to improve both transparency and understanding of the FOIA.

You can read previous posts in this series on FOIA Post (Part I, Part II). 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced that it has reached a settlement with the city of Marion, Ark., that, if approved by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, will resolve the department’s lawsuit against the city alleging race discrimination in employment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended. Title VII prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, sex, national origin or religion.

The department’s complaint, filed in May 2009, alleges that the city discriminated against Stacy D. Allen, an African-American and a former part-time patrol officer in the city’s police department, when it did not appoint him as a full-time patrol officer. The complaint alleges that the police department had a history of appointing the most senior part-time patrol officer as a full-time officer when a full-time position became available. However, when Allen, who was the city’s only African-American patrol officer, became the most senior part-time patrol officer and two full-time positions opened, the city appointed two less senior white part-time patrol officers to those positions instead of Allen. The Justice Department’s complaint was based on a charge of discrimination filed by Allen with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“All Americans are guaranteed the right to know that they can pursue their career of choice without fear of discrimination based on their race,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. “Title VII protects individuals, such as Mr. Allen, from having to suffer discrimination in the workplace. The Justice Department will take swift action against those employers who engage in discrimination, and we appreciate the partnership of the EEOC in these matters.”

The settlement agreement requires that the city not discriminate against on the basis of race, or in any way adversely affect the terms and conditions of employment of, any applicant or person employed in the city’s police department. The agreement also requires that the city provide Allen with a monetary award of $16,000 ($2,250 in back pay and $13,750 in compensatory damages).

The Civil Rights Division is committed to the vigorous enforcement of Title VII. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available on its Web sites at http://www.justice.gov/crt/; and http://www.justice.gov/crt/emp/.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Rodolfo Rodriguez Cabrera, 43, a Cuban national, was arraigned today in U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada on charges of producing and selling counterfeit International Game Technology (IGT) video gaming machines, commonly known as slot machines, and counterfeit IGT computer programs.

Cabrera and Henry Mantilla, 35, of Cape Coral, Fla., were indicted by a federal grand jury in Las Vegas on April 22, 2009, with one count of conspiracy, two counts of trafficking in counterfeit goods, two counts of trafficking in counterfeit labels and two counts of criminal copyright infringement. According to the indictment, Cabrera and Mantilla conspired between August 2007 and April 15, 2009, to make and sell unauthorized copies of computer programs designed for IGT video slot machines and counterfeit IGT video slot machines bearing IGT’s registered trademarks, all without the permission of IGT. The indictment also contains 13 forfeiture allegations seeking forfeiture of any and all counterfeit items and up to $5 million in illegal proceeds from their alleged criminal activity.

If convicted on the conspiracy charge, each defendant faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The copyright infringement and counterfeit labels charges also carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, per count. The charges of counterfeit goods carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $2 million fine, per count.

Cabrera was arrested June 8, 2009, in Riga, Latvia, and extradited from Latvia to the United States on Oct. 23, 2009. Cabrera is the first individual to be extradited from Latvia to the United States under a new extradition treaty between the U.S. and Latvia, which entered into force on April 15, 2009. Cabrera’s arrest and extradition is the result of cooperation between U.S. and Latvian law enforcement and the Latvian government. At the hearing today, Cabrera pleaded not guilty and U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy A. Leen ordered him detained pending trial, which is scheduled to begin Dec. 8, 2009. Mantilla pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on July 2, 2009, and trial is currently scheduled for Dec. 8, 2009, before U.S. District Court Judge Phillip M. Pro.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Thomas S. Dougherty of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Chu of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada. Significant assistance has been provided by the Central Criminal Police Department of the Latvian Ministry of Interior; Latvia’s Office of the Prosecutor General, International Cooperation Division; and Senior Trial Attorney Deborah Gaynus of the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs.

An indictment is merely a formal charge by the grand jury. Each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.