Blogs

The nomination period for the 2025 Sunshine Week FOIA Awards is now open! Nominations are due by December 6, 2024.

The CFO Council will hold its next public meeting on November 7, 2024.

Newly issued 2024 Summary and Assessment highlights a range of efforts by agencies in key areas of FOIA administration and includes OIP guidance for further improvement. OIP also issues new Guidelines for 2025. 

September's cases include violations involving the smuggling of Marco Polo argali sheep into the U.S., and tropical birds in the Caribbean, severing of a smalltooth sawfish, selling of eagle parts, dogfighting, asbestos abatement, oil pollution, destruction of wetlands, and more.

A Request for Information aims to gather suggestions for commitments that could be included in the Sixth U.S. Open Government National Action Plan. 

The Office of Information Policy announces Annual FOIA Report, Chief FOIA Officer Report, and Quarterly Report submission deadlines and resources.  

On September 13th, we commemorated a significant milestone—the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). This landmark, bipartisan legislation changed the way our nation views and responds to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Congress acknowledged these issues as critical threats to individual and public safety and, through VAWA, established important federal protections and dedicated federal grant resources to support survivors, strengthen coordinated community approaches, and improve efforts to hold offenders accountable.  VAWA resulted from...

An important area for school safety planning that is often overlooked is school accessibility for students with disabilities. Accessibility barriers in public schools remain pervasive even decades after passage of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which bars disability discrimination by recipients of federal financial assistance, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Some of these barriers pose significant problems for ensuring school safety for students with disabilities. For example, students who use wheelchairs or mobility scooters must have an effective means...

When signing the Voting Rights Act in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson called on leaders to register voters and to use the courts if necessary to defend the right.

The Office of Information Policy (OIP) has updated its FOIA Exemption 3 resources.

August's cases include violations involving the smuggling of eastern box turtles, the smuggling of American eels and tropical birds in the Caribbean, dogfighting, asbestos abatement, OSHA violations causing an employee's death, and more.

The mission of the Justice Department is to uphold the rule of law, keep our country safe and protect civil rights. For 25 years, the Professional Responsibility Advisory Office (PRAO) has assisted department attorneys in carrying out this mission with the highest standards of professionalism.