Nightingale v. U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Servs. (N.D. Cal.) -- granting class certification to plaintiffs seeking access to immigration files, specifically Alien Registration files, citing government’s “systematic failure of making timely determinations” on their FOIA requests.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
Scott v. Treasury Inspector Gen. for Tax Admin. (11th Cir.) (unpublished) -- affirming district court’s decision that TIGTA properly withheld — pursuant to Exemption 6 — certain investigatory records concerning plaintiff’s complaint against IRS employee.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
Gwich’in Steering Comm v. U.S Dep't of the Interior (D. Alaska) -- granting government’s motion to transfer venue to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which is already adjudicating a similar case between overlapping parties.
Highland Capital Mgmt. v. IRS (N.D. Tex.) -- ruling that: (1) IRS performed adequate search for records concerning 2008 audit of plaintiff; (2) agency properly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 3 (in conjunction 26 U.S.C. § 6103(a)) and Exemptions 6 and 7(E); (3) agency’s withholdings under the deliberative process and attorney-client privileges were proper in part and improper in part; and (3) agency failed to justify withholdings under Exemption 3 in conjunction with 26 U.S.C. § 6103(e)(7).
Watkins Law & Advocacy v. U.S. Dep't of Veterans Affairs (D.D.C.) -- holding that: (1) Veterans Affairs properly relied on deliberative process and attorney-client privileges to withhold records pertaining to Brady Act regulations; (2) FBI conducted adequate search for various records concerning regulation of firearm ownership and it properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 5, 6, and 7(C); (3) Office of Attorney General failed to perform adequate search for requested records; and (4) Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives properly withheld internal talking points pursuant to deliberative process privilege.
Sigler v. HHS (C.D. Cal.) -- finding that agency conducted a reasonable search for records concerning plaintiff’s HIPAA complaints and properly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 4, 5, 6, 7(C), and 7(E).
O'Brien v. DOJ (E.D. Pa.) -- dismissing case against FBI because agency averred that it did not receive plaintiff’s requests, all of which were misaddressed.
Osen v. U.S. Central Command (S.D.N.Y.) -- ruling that plaintiff was barred by collateral estoppel from challenging redactions of names and identifying information of foreign nationals suspected of involvement in attacks on Americans in Iraq; alternatively holding that government’s redactions were proper pursuant to Exemption 6.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
Barton v. U.S. Geological Survey (D.D.C.) -- awarding plaintiffs $61,619.81 in attorneys fees and costs for substantially prevailing in case involving research report about Rock Creek Park; deducting $44,000 from amount requested by plaintiffs after concluding that their attorneys’ hourly rates were too high and that their “fee on fees” request was excessive.
Judicial Watch v. CIA (D.D.C.) -- finding that: (1) FBI properly relied on Exemption 7(A) to withhold certain records concerning investigation of Michael Flynn; (2) Glomar responses of Treasury Department and CIA were not undermined by public statements of President Trump or White House.
Cause of Action Inst. v. U.S. Dep’t of the Army (D.D.C.) -- ruling that: (1) court did not have sufficient information to resolve question whether certain emails were Army, EOP, or both Army and EOP records; and (2) Army properly invoked Exemption 6 to withhold names of Army personnel below the rank of Colonel and civilian personnel below the GS-15 pay grade who did not otherwise interact with the media.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
Schneider v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- ruling that FBI conducted adequate search for background investigation records pertaining to plaintiff and that it properly withheld contested records pursuant to Exemption 7(E).
Brady Ctr. To Prevent Gun Violence v. DOJ (D.D.C.) --finding that: (1) Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives failed to perform adequate search for records concerning 2017 White Paper about reducing firearm regulations; and (2) ATF properly withheld email attachments wholly unrelated to subject of request as “out of scope.”
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
NY Times v. DOJ (2nd Cir.) -- concluding that Attorney General Holder’s public statements waived attorney work- product privilege with respect to portion of only one of five memoranda regarding CIA treatment of detainees overseas, reversing in part and affirming in part district court’s decision that Holder had “expressly adopted” reasoning of all memoranda.
Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng’rs. (D.D.C.) -- determining that: (1) Army Corp of Engineers and U.S. Customs & Border Protection performed adequate search for records provided to President-elect Trump’s Transition Team about construction of wall on southern border, and (2) all disputed withholdings were justified under Exemptions 5, 6, and 7(E).
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
S. Entl. Law Ctr. v. Mulvaney (W.D. Va.) -- determining that Office of Management and Budget failed to perform adequate search for agency reform plans and did not provide court with sufficient information to determine whether OMB properly withheld records pursuant to deliberative process privilege.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
Judicial Watch, Inc. v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- concluding that DOJ failed to meet its burden to detail the reasonably foreseeable harms that would occur if agency disclosed emails of Sally Yates, which DOJ withheld under Exemption 5 (deliberative process privilege).
Prop. of People, Inc. v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- finding that: (1) FBI needed to submit Vaughn Index in order for court determine whether FBI properly issued partial Glomar response under Exemptions 6 & 7(C) to protect certain records about Congressman Dana Roherbacher; and (2) FBI did not perform adequate search for other records pertaining to Congressman Rohrabacher.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
Knight First Amendment Inst. at Columbia Univ. v. DHS (S.D.N.Y.) -- granting in part and denying in part government’s use of Exemptions 5 and 7(E) to withhold records concerning the government’s authority to deport individuals from the United States based on their speech, beliefs, or associations.
Broward Bulldog, Inc. v. DOJ (11th Cir.) -- (1) affirming district court’s decision that FBI performed adequate search for records concerning 9/11 Review Commission and that agency properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 1, 3, 5, and 7(E); and (2) reversing district court’s decision that FBI improperly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 7(C) and that FBI properly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 7(D).
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
Morris v. SEC (D.D.C) -- ruling that agency was not required to perform search for requested records concerning child custody proceedings in Texas state courts, because agency sufficiently explained why it would not possess such records and plaintiff offered no contrary evidence.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.