Justice Blogs

Courtesy of Assistant Attorney General John Cruden for the Environment and Natural Resources Division

The Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) began 2016 by vigorously promoting cooperative federalism through work with our state partners to enforce our nation’s pollution laws and prosecute wildlife traffickers.  We also met with numerous state officials in the environmental enforcement arena to exchange views and share expertise in a variety of areas.

Recently I had the honor of being the first ENRD Assistant Attorney General invited to speak to the annual meeting of the Environmental Council of the States, the national association of state and territorial environmental agency leaders.  I joined colleagues from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), New Mexico and academia to discuss innovative ways to measure the success of environmental enforcement.  In addition, other key members of the division partnered with the National Association of Attorneys General to present webinars on topics of mutual interest, such as e-discovery and share expertise regarding federal bankruptcy law in the context of environmental cases.

A key example of our fruitful work with state leadership is the record-breaking settlement with BP in the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill litigation.  On April 4, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana entered the final consent decree in the litigation, thereby resolving civil claims of the United States and the five Gulf Coast states against BP.  The claims arose from the 2010 blowout of the Macondo well and the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  Under the consent decree, BP will pay the U.S. and the five Gulf States more than $20 billion, including: First, a $5.5 billion civil penalty; second, more than $8.1 billion in natural resource damages; third, $600 million in further reimbursement of clean-up costs and some royalty payments; and finally, up to $6 billion in economic damage payments for the Gulf States or their local units of government.  This resolution is the largest settlement with a single entity in Department of Justice history; it includes the largest civil penalty ever awarded under the Clean Water Act, the largest ever natural resources damages settlement and massive economic damages payments to our state partners.

We have had many other significant state-federal enforcement actions this year and the following are highlights of cooperative federalism in action.

In the most recent federal-state coordinated enforcement efforts against oil spills in and around the Gulf of Mexico, ORB Exploration LLC (ORB) agreed to pay civil penalties and state response costs and to implement corrective measures to resolve alleged violations of  federal and state environmental laws stemming from three crude oil spills that occurred in 2013 and 2015 from two of ORB’s Louisiana facilities in the Atchafalaya River Basin, as well as violations of Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure regulations at its Frog Lake oil storage barge.  Under a proposed consent decree lodged on Earth Day in federal court, ORB will pay $615,000 in federal civil penalties for the spills and other environmental violations, pay $100,000 to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality for civil penalties and response costs and take measures to improve spill response preparedness and prevent future oil spills.

ENRD also recently partnered with Utah to negotiate an agreement with Salt Lake County to resolve alleged Clean Water Act violations associated with the county’s stormwater management program.  The agreement, if approved by the court after a public comment period, would require the county to take specific measures to reduce illegal stormwater and non-stormwater discharges to Jordan River Valley surface waters by thoroughly implementing the requirements of its municipal separate storm sewer system permit.  The county also will pay a civil penalty of $280,000 to be split evenly between the United States and the state.

In addition, ENRD joined with Tennessee to negotiate an agreement with OXY USA Inc. (OXY), a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Company, to clean up contaminated water and sediments in the Ocoee River and one of its watersheds at the Copper Basin Mining District in Polk County, Tennessee.  The settlement, once approved by the court, will require the company to spend an estimated $40 million to maintain and operate a water treatment system, prevent access by the public to contaminated water and monitor contamination in the Ocoee River.  OXY also will reimburse both EPA and Tennessee for costs incurred in overseeing the work required by the settlement.  This settlement, combined with work previously performed at the site, directs over $217 million toward cleaning up the contamination at this site.

ENRD and the state of West Virginia also took a joint enforcement action under federal and state law against Justice Companies Inc., to address unlawful discharges resulting from the construction of 20 dams in West Virginia trout streams.  In February, the court entered a consent decree and stipulated judgment to resolve the federal and state claims.  Under the consent decree and stipulated judgment, the defendants will remove the dams, restore the streams, provide compensatory mitigation, and pay a civil penalty of $345,000, to be shared evenly by the state and federal governments.

These cases exemplify cooperative federalism in environmental enforcement, a top priority for ENRD.  We place a high value on these partnerships with state and local governments as they are crucial to fulfilling ENRD’s mission on behalf of the American people.

ENRD is also continuing our cooperative relationship with states in criminal prosecutions this year.  To that end, prosecutors from ENRD’s Environmental Crimes Section have provided training to state partners by sharing their criminal enforcement experience, as well as discussing the division’s new Worker Safety Program.

These state connections allowed us to criminally prosecute eight individuals for wildlife trafficking in violation of the Lacey Act, which led to the conviction of five defendants on felony charges.  The cases arose from a covert investigation conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Conservation and known as “Operation Roadhouse.”  This joint effort also enabled the state to issue citations to over a hundred individuals for violations of state law.

I look forward to continuing and enhancing ENRD’s partnerships with our state and local government counterparts to advance our shared goals on behalf of the American people.

This past March marked the seventh year that agency Chief FOIA Officers submitted to the Department of Justice their Chief FOIA Officer Reports detailing all the steps their agencies have taken to embrace the President's and the Department of Justice's 2009 FOIA Memoranda. These Chief FOIA Officer Reports have served as a valuable resource for agencies to describe the various initiatives undertaken to improve their administration of the FOIA. With the completion of agencies’ 2016 Chief FOIA Officer Reports this past Sunshine Week, today OIP releases its summary and assessment of these reports and the progress made in implementing the Department of Justice's 2009 FOIA Guidelines.

Similar to last year, this year’s summary is broken down into five parts detailing the efforts of agencies in each of the five key areas addressed in the Department's 2009 FOIA Guidelines:

• Applying the Presumption of Openness,
• Having Effective Systems for Responding to Requests,
• Making Information Available Proactively,
• Utilizing Technology, and
• Reducing Backlogs and Improving Timeliness.

Agencies and the public are encouraged to read both OIP’s summary and each agency’s individual report to learn more about the various efforts and steps taken over the last reporting year to improve the administration of the FOIA across the government.

In addition to the summary, OIP’s 2016 assessment once again provides a visual snapshot of agency efforts in several key areas of FOIA administration. The assessment is separated between high and low volume FOIA agencies and includes a five-step scoring system, overall scores for each assessed section, and the inclusion of a detailed methodology. The full assessment is provided in both an open format and in PDF.

Finally, as part of the 2016 summary and assessment, OIP has once again included guidance based on our review of the 2016 reports to assist agencies in making further improvements in the years ahead. As concluded in OIP’s summary and assessment, "agencies continue to improve their administration of the FOIA through various initiatives connected to the five key areas established in the Department's 2009 FOIA Guidelines." Based on our review of the reports, OIP's guidance encourages agencies to focus on closing their ten oldest requests and appeals, to successfully post their quarterly FOIA reports throughout the year, and to conduct self-assessments of their FOIA administration to aid in making further improvements in upcoming years.    

OIP’s yearly assessment is intended to serve as a vehicle to both recognize agency successes and to identify areas where further improvement can be made. You can read OIP’s 2016 Summary and Assessment of Agency Chief FOIA Officer Reports on our Reports page alongside previous summaries and assessments. OIP’s guidance for further improvement based on our review of agency 2016 Chief FOIA Officer Reports is available as a part of this year’s summary as well as on our Guidance page.

Courtesy of Helam Gebremariam, Counsel, Office for Access to Justice

One year ago this week, civil unrest broke in Baltimore following the tragic death of Freddie Gray.  In the midst of these events, Baltimore Library Manger Melanie Towsend Diggs made a critically important decision – to keep the Enoch Pratt Free Library open.  In the subsequent days, the library, located in downtown Baltimore – at the very intersection where community members, police and media converged – became a safe space for the community’s organizing, dialogue and healing.  Ms. Diggs’ decision highlighted the vital role that civic institutions, including libraries, play in communities, particularly in times of crisis.

Not long after the unrest, Maryland Legal Aid (MLA), a private, non-profit law firm that provides free legal services to low-income people throughout the state, came to Ms. Diggs with a proposal for collaboration.  Their idea was simple: bring civil legal aid attorneys into the library on a weekly basis to provide free legal services to community members on their civil legal issues.  As part of this new “Lawyer in the Library” project, MLA attorneys come to the library to offer individual consultations on civil legal matters including domestic violence, child support, housing and public benefits issues.  In addition, on one Saturday afternoon per month, the library hosts a clinic dedicated to reentry issues.  During this clinic approximately 15 volunteer attorneys work to help justice-involved individuals and returning citizens expunge their court and police records from public access.  In the past year hundreds of local community members have benefited from this unique partnership.

This week, MLA and the library hosted a “Lawyer in the Library” event in honor of the Justice Department’s inaugural National Reentry Week.  My colleagues at the Office for Access to Justice and I had the privilege of attending this event, which served more than two dozen individuals during the two-hour period.  Events such as these continue to raise awareness about the significant support that civil legal aid provides to low-income and vulnerable populations, including those that are justice-involved.  This is absolutely essential given that research consistently shows that a majority of low- and moderate-income Americans don’t see the issues they’re encountering as legal problems having potential legal solutions.  A family may be concerned about unsafe housing conditions or about a child being expelled from school, but may identify those as personal or social problems rather than as legal issues that a civil legal aid attorney may be able to resolve.  The same is often true for justice-involved individuals and those returning to their communities after serving time: many don’t know that legal aid attorneys can help expunge their criminal records, modify child support orders, reinstate driver’s licenses, prevent illegal evictions and much more.

Increasing federal support of and access to civil legal aid, including for justice-involved and reentering individuals, has been a priority of the Obama Administration, the Justice Department and the Office for Access to Justice.  In 2012, the White House Domestic Policy Council and the Justice launched the Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable (LAIR), which brought together 17 federal agencies to inspire new collaborations to better engage civil legal aid providers as federal granteees, sub-grantees and partners.  In September 2015, President Obama issued a presidential memorandum formally establishing the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable (WH-LAIR), increasing the number of federal partners to 21 and charging the membership to work collaboratively to include civil legal aid in appropriate programs that address vulnerable and under-served populations. 

National Reentry Week gives us the opportunity to reflect on the many obstacles that justice-involved individuals and returning citizens face.  It also gives us the opportunity to identify the many human faces of reentry and the diverse array of community partners that dedicate their life and their work to helping people get a fresh start.  Civil legal aid programs and libraries are two important pieces of this puzzle – this “Lawyer in the Library” partnership highlights just that.  Through this collaboration, two institutions that have long lived in the community and reflect the community now partner to serve the community in pursuit of a second chance.  

Courtesy of Principal Deputy Director Bea Hanson of the Office on Violence Against Women and Courtesy of Assistant Attorney General Karol V. Mason for the Office of Justice Programs 

This month, as part of Sexual Assault Awareness month, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced the Justice Department’s plan to release a protocol for pediatricians, forensic nurses and other health care providers who work with children, which will offer evidence-based recommendations for caring for child victims of sexual abuse.  Today, we are excited to share that the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) released the National Protocol for Sexual Abuse Medical Forensic Examinations, Pediatric (Pediatric SAFE Protocol).

As we all know, sexual violence is a serious problem that impacts all of us, and the Justice Department is committed to supporting communities across the country in their efforts to implement effective responses to support victims of sexual violence and hold perpetrators accountable.  The medical forensic examination is an integral component of this response.  It is designed to address victims’ health care needs and promote their safety and healing.  In addition, forensic evidence collected during the examination – information gathered during the medical history, documentation of exam findings and forensic samples, if potentially available – can help facilitate case investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of sexual violence.  Success in meeting these objectives depends not only on the skills and knowledge of the health care providers conducting the examination, but also the coordinated efforts of all disciplines involved in the response to victims.

In September 2004, the Attorney General released A National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examinations, Adults/Adolescents (SAFE Protocol), which provides detailed, voluntary guidelines for criminal justice and health care practitioners in responding to the immediate needs of adult and adolescent sexual assault victims.  In 2013, the Attorney General released a second edition of the SAFE Protocol that reflected changes in practice and technology since 2004 and emphasized the need for victim-centered care.  After the release of the second edition of the SAFE Protocol, OVW heard from stakeholders in the field that there was a need for a similarly definitive document addressing the needs of child victims.  Recognizing that the care of a prepubescent child following sexual abuse is significantly different than that of an adolescent or adult, OVW partnered with the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN) to develop the Pediatric SAFE Protocol. 

The Pediatric SAFE Protocol was developed through a collaborative process with national experts represented by child abuse pediatricians, pediatric sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs), children’s hospitals, emergency departments, child advocacy centers, community and systems-based advocacy programs, law enforcement agencies and prosecutors.  We also relied on the expertise of our federal partners in the Office of Justice Programs’ Office of the Assistant Attorney General, National Institute of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Office for Victims of Crime; FBI; and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Indian Health Service to ensure the new Pediatric SAFE Protocol would be a comprehensive guide for an immediate response to child sexual abuse.

This much awaited protocol not only provides specific guidance on forensic medical examinations, it clearly identifies the need for a coordinated community response to child sexual abuse and the roles of victim advocates, law enforcement, prosecutors, child protective services and forensic scientists in a community’s response.  As Attorney General Lynch said in her speech at the National Crime Victims’ Rights Week awards ceremony, “I am hopeful that it will help bolster efforts nationwide to care for the most vulnerable victims of sexual abuse.  No child should ever have to experience that kind of abuse – and no child who does should be forced to bear that burden alone.”

We hope communities across the country will use the Pediatric SAFE Protocol as a roadmap to establish, strengthen or enhance their immediate response to child sexual abuse and promote the healing and well-being of these most vulnerable victims.  Communities interested in learning more about the protocol can contact IAFN for technical assistance through Kids TA, a project supported by the Office on Violence Against Women’s Technical Assistance Initiative.  The Kids TA project is designed to disseminate the Pediatric SAFE Protocol and provide education and resources to all sexual abuse responders regarding the unique needs of the sexually abused prepubescent child.

IAFN and OVW are hosting a webinar on June 16, 2016, at 3:30 p.m. EDT that will provide more details on the key recommendations of the protocol.  Registration information and technical assistance is available at www.kidsta.org.

The Pediatric SAFE Protocol is available at www.justice.gov/ovw/selected-publications.

Courtesy of Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch

This post can also be found on USA Today.

Every year, more than 600,000 people return to our communities after serving time in federal and state prisons, and another 11.4 million cycle though local jails.  Research shows that economic opportunity, education, strong family bonds and civic engagement are the pillars of a successful return from prison.  And in turn, successful re-entries reduce recidivism, improve the safety of our neighborhoods and provide economic benefits for our communities and our country.

But for far too many Americans, re-entry has become an all-but-impossible task because of what are known as collateral consequences: The civil sanctions and restrictions that are triggered by a criminal record and continue to penalize returning citizens long after they have paid their debt to society.  The more than 45,000 collateral consequences that exist nationwide too often restrict – and sometimes prohibit – access to jobs, housing, education, public benefits and civic participation, leaving returning citizens with a freedom that exists in name only and undermining our nation’s promise of liberty and justice for all.  As we continue striving to make our criminal justice system smarter and fairer, we must ensure that those returning from prison come home to a meaningful second chance.

The Department of Justice – and the entire Obama administration – is committed to expanding opportunities for justice-involved individuals throughout the U.S.  In order to highlight our ongoing efforts to improve federal re-entry outcomes and to raise awareness of the many issues facing re-entering citizens, the Justice Department designated the week of April 24-30 as the first-ever National Reentry Week.  In hundreds of events across the country – including job fairs, mentoring workshops for detained adolescents and mobile driver’s license and identification clinics – U.S. Attorney’s Offices, Bureau of Prison (BOP) facilities and Justice Department grantees are teaming up with other Cabinet agencies, courts, legal aid providers, public defenders and faith-based and community groups to send a compassionate and supportive message to returning individuals that they are not alone.

In addition, I was proud to announce on Monday that the Justice Department had released “The Roadmap to Reentry,” a major reform document that directs BOP to review the ways that it assesses and meets the specific educational, vocational and life-skills needs of each of its inmates, allowing us to achieve a clearer picture of how to best prepare each individual for success.  That same day, I sent a letter to all 50 governors inviting them to deepen their commitment to re-entry by allowing returning federal inmates to exchange their BOP identification cards and authenticated release papers for a state-issued ID.  And later this week, the administration will release more details about the steps we are taking to ensure that applicants with a criminal history have a fair shot to compete for a federal job.  Through these and many other initiatives – such as the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, which I am proud to chair – the Obama administration is working tirelessly to promote better outcomes and help motivated individuals who have served their time to find employment, secure stable housing, support their children and families, and contribute to their communities.

Of course, the work to smooth the way home for re-entering citizens extends beyond the federal government.  Legal aid programs, public defenders and re-entry service providers do heroic work each day to mitigate the effects of collateral consequences.  A number of states have either narrowly tailored collateral consequences or eliminated them altogether.  And many employers, big and small, have begun considering applicants with criminal histories, including the 19 businesses that visited the White House earlier this month to launch the Fair Chance Business Pledge — which challenges the private sector to dismantle unnecessary hurdles to employment for those with a criminal record.

With the help of these vital partners, we have made tremendous progress, and we are proud of all we have accomplished.  But there is more to be done.  Whether returning citizens can find good jobs, locate decent shelter, access adequate health care, and exercise their right to vote is a question with enormous implications – not only for them and their families, but for all of us.  As long as we continue to make it difficult for those who have served time in prison to find their footing, we diminish our safety; hamper our prosperity; and, above all, compromise the ideals and principles that define our country.  That’s why all of us, at every level, must work together to give returning individuals the resources and support they need to make a successful transition: not just because it’s sound policy, but because it’s the right thing to do.

Courtesy of United States Attorney Josh Minkler for the Southern District of Indiana

U.S. Attorney General Lynch took her Community Policing Tour to Indianapolis, Indiana, on April 13, to meet with a class of recruits and recognize the merits of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s (IMPD) Officer Wellness and Safety Program (OWSP).  This award-winning program was started by IMPD Captain Brian Nanavaty and emphasizes the physical and emotional health of IMPD officers.  The program’s theme is “Healthy Hire, Healthy Retire” and provides a means for officers to remain healthy from their first day as a recruit to retirement and beyond.  Healthy and happy officers are more productive and help make their communities safer.

While in Indianapolis, Attorney General Lynch and I hosted a roundtable with officers and members of the local mental health community during which several officers and their families told the Attorney General how they had been helped by the OWSP.  These moving stories of having prevailed over PTSD, survivor guilt and marital discord are a testament to the effectiveness of the program.  Many officers credit the OWSP with saving their careers and marriages.  In 2015, OWSP actually won a BJA award and has since become a national model.  One officer who has benefitted from the program is Jeff Patterson, who—along with his wife— met with the Attorney General and discussed how OWSP has helped him following years of wear and tear in the homicide and sex crimes divisions.

Later in the day, Attorney General Lynch attended the IMPD East District roll call where she met with officers assigned to some of the city's most challenging neighborhoods.  There is more violent crime in the East District than in any other part of the city and Indianapolis spends the majority of its Project Safe Neighborhoods grant money on projects in the east side of Indianapolis.  To commemorate her visit, Chief of Police Troy Riggs presented the Attorney General with a shadow box of IMPD badges.  After delivering brief remarks and taking questions from officers, Attorney General Lynch took photos with the group and signed the "Wall of Fame" to preserve the memory of her visit for years to come.

Courtesy of Daryl Atkinson (Bureau of Justice Assistance) & Heather Warnken (Office for Victims of Crime), Visiting Fellows, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs

This April, during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week and the first National Reentry Week, we celebrate America’s progress in supporting both crime victims and the thousands of individuals who return to our communities every year from jails and prisons.  Only one calendar week separates the two observances, but the gulf of public perception – who society envisions as victims and perpetrators of crime – is much wider, often to the detriment of getting people the help they need.

Americans are conditioned to view victims and incarcerated people as two separate if not mutually exclusive categories. As two attorneys privileged to work on the front lines of criminal justice policy reform, each in fellowships designed to build bridges and elevate the voices of impacted communities, we understand the need to address these oversimplified notions. As two survivors of serious violent crime, we understand what is at stake.

Notwithstanding game-changing victories in law and policy on behalf of crime victims, a majority remain unserved and unseen.  Only about nine percent of victims of serious violent crime receive direct assistance from a victim service agency.  When the crime is not reported to police, the case for approximately half of these victimizations, that number drops to four percent.  

A growing body of research on trauma reveals the profound implications for victims who are unable to access the help they need to stabilize their lives.  Without positive outlets and support, a victim is more likely to follow a path of self-medicating through substances or other self-destructive behavior – including involvement in the justice system – perpetuating cycles of victimization or harm.

Many of the 600,000 people released from state and federal prisons and the 10 to 12 million who cycle in and out of local jails annually were once, if not many times, themselves victims of violence. They all face tremendous challenges navigating the maze of collateral consequences that may be triggered by having a record, such as lack of access to stable housing and employment. But far less discussed is the lack of access to victim services – or the need for them in the first place. 

As the country embraces meaningful second chances for people with records, it is time we also address the role that trauma may have played in their lives. The years the two of us have spent processing our experiences with violence – including our encounters with law enforcement and others capable of helping or hindering our path – and the years we’ve spent working to improve the outcomes of those whose lives touch the system as victims or perpetrators, have landed us at a similar set of questions.

How can the victim assistance field find new ways to reach the underserved?  How many do not feel comfortable reporting crime or being labeled as victim, or feel incapable of being seen as one in the first place?  How does the unaddressed trauma of incarcerated people impact their ability to successfully reenter society?  How do those victimized in the past, including those who use drugs or harmed others to feel control or safe in the world, get a second chance at healing or stability in the future?

We believe in naming these hard questions, and working for better answers and futures for all.  The Department of Justice is already taking bold steps to meet the needs of underserved victims with records, and in support of those at risk.  In 2015, the Office for Victims of Crime funded 12 demonstration sites throughout the country seeking to improve responses to male survivors of violence, particularly boys and young men of color.  Though young black and brown men represent some of the highest rates of victimization, they are far more likely to end up incarcerated than in a victims services program.  By providing survivor-centered strategies, peer-learning, cross-training, and robust program evaluation, this initiative will not only touch lives but yield valuable insight into what is effective, what is being missed, and why.

OVC is also working to launch a post-conviction advocacy project with the American Bar Association that will provide training and technical assistance to help vacate convictions for survivors of human trafficking.  In other words, sometimes a cutting-edge victim services program and a cutting-edge reentry program are the same thing.

On the research side, expanded use of tools such as the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Inmate Survey on the role and extent of prior victimization, and redesign of the National Crime Victimization Survey to shed additional light on reporting and help-seeking, are just two efforts underway to create a more nuanced picture of the explicit and implicit barriers that exist or fuel cycles of vulnerability and harm.

These are just some of the examples, and together we can do more.  We can uncover more holistic data on the ways violence impacts victims’ lives.  We can address the knowledge gap in reentry, learning more about the population as a whole and looking on a granular level at what works.  Developing this body of knowledge will help policymakers and the public break down false distinctions in an overlapping world.

National Crime Victims’ Rights Week and National Reentry Week are both about progress, triumphs, and rebuilding lives.  One celebrates the collective will to treat all crime victims as worthy of healing; the other the collective will to see all who have paid their debt to society as worthy of a second chance.  This April at the Department of Justice and across the country, they have the potential to touch many of the same lives.

Last month, OIP posted the Department’s 2015 Litigation and Compliance Report. Each year by April 1, the Attorney General submits to Congress a report detailing the Department’s efforts to encourage agency compliance with the FOIA, as well as a listing of all FOIA litigation cases received and decided in the prior calendar year. The report highlights the many ways that OIP works to provide guidance, trainings, and counseling to promote agency accountability with the FOIA.      

This year's report once again summarizes new policy guidance issued by OIP, which for 2015 includes:

• Limitations on the Use of “Still-Interested” Inquiries, with an implementation checklist 
• Proactive Disclosures of Non-Exempt Agency Information, with an implementation checklist
• Guidance for Further Improvement Based on 2015 Chief FOIA Officer Report Review and Assessment

The report also discusses a range of efforts by OIP to promote agency accountability with the FOIA, including through the review and assessment of agencies’ 2015 Chief FOIA Officer Reports and Annual FOIA Reports, and the creation of new reporting guidelines for agency 2016 Chief FOIA Officer Reports. As detailed in the 2015 report, in addition to direct one-on-one counseling, OIP hosted and facilitated numerous training programs and briefings on the FOIA, providing instruction to nearly 2,000 FOIA professionals across the government. The report also summarizes the many resources that OIP makes available online, such as the DOJ Guide to the FOIA, searchable summaries of court decisions, and information about FOIA news and events published in the FOIA Post blog.           

The newly published 2015 report also details OIP’s work on several open government initiatives. Notably, pursuant to the United States’ Second Open Government National Action Plan, OIP created four distinct FOIA training resources and made them available to all agencies during 2015. These resources included an infographic covering FOIA basics for new employees, a brief video for senior government executives, and two e-Learning training modules - one for FOIA professionals and another for all government employees. As detailed in the report, OIP has also already begun making progress on commitments in the Third Open Government National Action Plan, which include expanding services available on FOIA.gov, conducting a proactive disclosure pilot, and improving agency FOIA websites.     

Along with the narrative portion of the report, every year OIP compiles charts listing the FOIA litigation cases received and decided during 2015. As in previous years, OIP again provides these charts in both PDF and open (CSV) formats.

OIP invites both agencies and the public to review its 2015 Litigation and Compliance Report to learn more about all of our efforts to encourage agency compliance with the FOIA.  OIP looks forward to building on these efforts as we continue to work with agencies and the public to improve the overall administration of the FOIA in the years ahead.     

The 2009 FOIA Guidelines were the first Department of Justice FOIA Guidelines to specifically highlight the importance of utilizing modern technology in FOIA administration. To support this directive, in 2010 OIP formed the FOIA IT Working Group, which continues to serve as a forum for agencies to discuss the application of technology to the administration of the FOIA. OIP reconvened the working group to commemorate Sunshine Week 2016 with a discussion from a panel of experts focused on the importance of leadership support and collaboration between technology and FOIA professionals.

Over the last six years, the IT Working Group has discussed a range of topics, including providing records in electronic formats, improvements in agency FOIA websites, and the use of advanced document processing tools. Moderated by Director Melanie Ann Pustay, the Sunshine Week meeting facilitated a vibrant discussion with a panel of experts who included: Ron Bewtra, Chief Technology Officer at the Department of Justice; Doug Hibbard, Senior Advisor to the Initial Request Staff with the Office of Information Policy; Jennifer Matis, Assistant Counsel for the Office of Government Ethics (OGE); and Timothy Mallon, Systems Engineer and Software Developer at OGE.

The key theme that emerged throughout the nearly two-hour meeting was the need for collaboration between technology and FOIA professionals and the importance of leadership and a clear vision for how technology can support the agency's mission. Each panelist brought unique insights to the conversation, beginning with Mr. Bewtra who discussed his role as the chief technologist for the Justice Department. In his remarks, Mr. Bewtra focused on how his team works with program experts to ensure component missions are fully supported through the utilization of the right technology. Mr. Bewtra emphasized the importance of communication and a clear understanding of the mission between program and technology experts. As the Department as a whole seeks to maximize the value of agency-wide technology investments, collaboration with program offices continues to be an important practice for Mr. Bewtra in order to determine where available technology could be used and what new projects to take on.

Mr. Hibbard then discussed the various efforts undertaken to incorporate advanced technology tools into the FOIA process at OIP – specifically the application of e-Discovery applications for document review. Mr. Hibbard’s remarks focused on the collaboration between OIP and program offices within the Department to develop pilot programs and business cases for the use of such tools to process FOIA requests. He explained how the implementation of these tools required coordination with technology professionals, testing by OIP staff, the development of unique workflows, and training. As emphasized by Mr. Hibbard, all of these efforts at OIP were possible because of the Office’s ability to articulate the business case for use of these tools and the support for its mission by the Department’s technology staff.

The team from OGE discussed a similar, collaborative experience, but focused on different applications and scales of technology that they identified for OGE's needs. Whereas the panelists from the Department of Justice discussed the benefits of agency-wide applications and how OIP made the case for using available technology, the OGE team discussed how a one-on-one interaction at a small agency led to the development of a home-grown case management system. Ms. Matis discussed how the clear needs of the FOIA office and personal interaction with Mr. Mallon allowed the team to collaborate on the development of their new case management tool, creating efficiencies that were not previously available.

In addition to discussing the need for collaboration, all four panelists discussed the importance of finding the right tool or set of tools for the task required. For Mr. Bewtra, this meant having a clearly articulated set of requirements when looking to acquire a new tool or leverage an existing one. Mr. Hibbard discussed that while efficiencies have been gained in document review through the use of e-Discovery tools, these tools are not always the answer for all requests, and for some requests it may be more efficient to use other methods or tools for processing. Finally, the OGE team discussed how building their new case management tool on an expandable technology platform meant that new features could be added as needs arose, allowing them to iterate within their current tool instead of searching for a new one.

The panel had a very engaging discussion with attendees regarding various topics throughout the event. Given the strong interest in these discussions, OIP will be looking for ways to continue the dialogue at events in the future. Additionally, as agencies continue to explore new ways to harness technology in their administration of the FOIA we invite them to let us know so that future meetings of the FOIA IT Working Group will be convened in order to share the latest developments across the government.

As part of the Second United States Open Government National Action Plan the Administration committed to initiating “an interagency process to determine the feasibility and the potential content of a core FOIA regulation that is both applicable to all agencies and retains flexibility for agency-specific requirements.”  Throughout 2014 and 2015, OIP convened an interagency working group and met with members of civil society to fulfill this commitment.  The goal of this initiative was to create as much uniformity as is practical and feasible in the content of agency FOIA regulations.  Today, OIP culminates work on this initiative by releasing guidance and a template containing both guidelines and sample language for agency FOIA regulations.

FOIA regulations are a key aspect of an agency’s FOIA administration.  Each agency is responsible for publishing its own regulations.  The FOIA statute requires that certain topics be included in agency FOIA regulations, such as providing for expedited processing.  There are many other areas, however, where agencies have flexibility, such as setting a time limit for submitting an administrative appeal.         

OIP’s new guidance identifies the topics that the FOIA requires agencies to address in their regulations.  The guidance also notes the provisions that the FOIA permits agencies to include.  In addition to the required and optional provisions, the guidance describes the other types of provisions that agencies, as a matter of good practice, should include in their regulations. 

The guidance is supplemented by a FOIA regulation template that provides guidelines and sample language for agencies to use as they publish and update their regulations.  These resources will be updated as needed to reflect changes in law and policy.

To the extent it is feasible, standardizing common aspects of FOIA administration across agencies will simplify the FOIA process for requesters who may submit requests to different agencies.  For example, the template guidelines specify a minimum number of days that agencies should afford requesters to file an administrative appeal.  The guidance and template also stress the importance of including customer service provisions.  OIP encourages all agencies to consult the guidance and template as they review their own regulations.  By doing so, agencies can help further standardize FOIA practices across the government and improve overall administration of the FOIA.  

Courtesy of Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch

Cross-posted on Huffington Post

Under the Obama Administration, the Department of Justice has taken major steps to make our criminal justice system more fair, more efficient, and more effective at reducing recidivism and helping formerly incarcerated individuals contribute to their communities.  An important part of that task is preparing those who have paid their debt to society for substantive opportunities beyond the prison gates, and addressing obstacles to successful reentry that too many returning citizens encounter.

Addressing the challenges that formerly incarcerated individuals experience is a vital and pressing task.  Each year, more than 600,000 individuals return to our neighborhoods after serving time in federal and state prisons, and another 11.4 million individuals cycle through local jails.  Nearly a quarter of Americans has had some sort of encounter with the criminal justice system – mostly for relatively minor, non-violent offenses, and sometimes from decades in the past.  But whether an arrest occurred recently or long ago, individuals with criminal records, and particularly recently-incarcerated individuals, face serious and complex obstacles to successful reentry.  The long-term impact of a criminal record prevents many motivated people from obtaining employment, housing, higher education, and credit – and these barriers affect returning individuals even if they have turned their lives around and are unlikely to reoffend.  Ultimately, these barriers can contribute to a cycle of incarceration that makes it difficult for even the most well-intentioned individuals to stay on the right path and stay out of the criminal justice system.

At the Department of Justice, supporting successful reentry is an essential part of our mission to promote public safety – because by helping individuals return to productive, law-abiding lives, we can reduce crime across the country and make our neighborhoods better places to live.  That’s why we have made more than $400 million in Second Chance Act funds available since 2009 to support comprehensive adult and juvenile reentry services.  It’s why we have been working through the Federal Interagency Reentry Council – which I have the privilege of chairing – to reduce policy barriers to successful reentry, opening up opportunities in education, job placement, housing, healthcare, and a host of other areas critical to successful reintegration.  And it’s why we are raising awareness of the importance of reentry strategies that both increase public safety and fulfill our nation’s commitment to the promise of individual redemption.

To encourage and highlight this important work, the Justice Department is designating the week of April 24-30, 2016, as National Reentry Week.  During this week, we are asking the Bureau of Prisons to coordinate reentry events at their facilities across the country – from job fairs, to practice interviews, to mentorship programs, to events for children of incarcerated parents – designed to help prepare inmates for release.  We have also asked each U.S. Attorney’s Office to coordinate reentry events, including meetings between local reentry stakeholders, reentry court proceedings, employer roundtables or other events designed to raise awareness about the importance of reentry work.  We are encouraging federal partners and grantees to work closely with stakeholders like federal defenders, legal aid providers, and other partners across the country to increase the impact of this effort.  And Justice Department and Administration leadership will travel during National Reentry Week in support of these events.

I am proud of the great strides we have already made and excited about the work still to come.  And I am certain that if we work together, we can reduce crime and protect our communities by preparing individuals for success outside prison walls.  As we go forward, the Department of Justice will continue to support and advance reentry programs that promote opportunity, bolster public safety, and give formerly incarcerated individuals the full chance they deserve to rejoin our communities and strengthen our nation.