VTDigger Says FirstNet Not Exempt from FOIA
FirstNet isn’t exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, said VTDigger at the U.S. District Court for Vermont in case 5:17-cv-192. The local news organization sued the Department of Commerce last month for refusing to process its FOIA requests on…
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FirstNet. This month, the Commerce Department asked to dismiss the suit. Plaintiffs rejected the department’s arguments, in a response (in Pacer) filed Sunday. “This case is about what it takes to shield government activity from the prying eyes of the public,” the news organization said. “As opposed to most FOIA cases where an agency invokes specific narrowly tailored exemptions to withhold certain information from a requester, DOC has, through a series of formal and informal policies, instead taken the position that it does not have to be bothered with such niceties and can instead simply refuse to even search for responsive records, let alone process them for release, whenever they have to do with FirstNet.” In saying FirstNet is exempt from FOIA, DOC cites a line from the statute establishing FirstNet that refers to a different law, the Administrative Procedure Act, the nonprofit said. The department describes FirstNet as an independent agency within NTIA, but “FirstNet still remains curiously beholden to various DOC components,” the organization said. “DOC seeks to hide all evidence of FirstNet’s activities, ostensibly because it involves confidential or sensitive information,” it said. “It does not cite to any exemptions to protect this information.” In March, FirstNet declined our FOIA request seeking release of contract documents for the $6.5 billion public safety project (see 1703290047).