Court opinion issued Sept. 30, 2020

Elec. Privacy Info. Ctr. v. DOJ (D.D.C.) — after reviewing Mueller Report in camera and holding ex parte hearing with DOJ, ruling that: (1) DOJ properly withheld grand jury information and intelligence sources and methods pursuant to Exemption 3 in conjunction with Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) and the National Security Act of 1947, respectively; (2) DOJ properly withheld FBI file names and serial numbers pursuant to Exemption 7(A), identifying information about third parties pursuant to Exemption 7(C), and FBI investigative techniques and procedures pursuant to Exemption 7(E); and (3) DOJ improperly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege, because disputed information was not predecisional.

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.

Court opinions issued Sept. 29, 2020

Nat’l Immigration Proj. of the Nat’l Lawyers Guild v. ICE (D.D.C.) -- finding that ICE properly redacted draft version of investigations handbook pursuant Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege, noting that agency met foreseeable harm standard under D.C. Circuit’s recent ruling in Machado Amadis v. U.S. Dep’t of State.

Judicial Watch v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- concluding that FBI’s initial declarations failed to adequately explain how disclosure of draft talking points related to investigation of Hillary Clinton would harm interests protected by the deliberative process privilege.

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.

Court opinion issued Sept. 25, 2020

Catholic Legal Immigration Network v. USCIS (D.Md.) -- determining that government properly relied on Exemptions 5 and 7(E) to withhold records pertaining to adjudication of “Special Immigrant Juvenile Status” classification, with exception of a subset of documents withheld under the deliberative process privilege.  

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.

Court opinion issued Sept. 24, 2020

Kowal v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- deciding that: (1) Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted reasonable search for records concerning plaintiff’s death-row client and properly withheld third-party records pursuant to Exemption7(C); and (2) FBI also performed adequate search, but its Vaughn Index did not provide court with sufficient information to evaluate agency’s withholdings.

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.

Court opinions issued Sept. 23, 2020

Boundaoui v. FBI (N.D. Ill.) -- denying plaintiff’s motions to find FBI in contempt for violating court’s previous orders, but instructing FBI to increase its rate of document production to 1000 pages per month and to search an electronic surveillance database in response to plaintiff’s request for records pertaining to government surveillance of Muslim Americans in Chicago area in the 1990s

James Madison Proj. v. CIA (D.D.C.) -- ruling that CIA properly relied on Exemption 1 to withhold records regarding agreements with President Bush and two corporations, but that agency’s declarations were too conclusory to permit evaluation of whether agency properly invoked Exemptions 6 and 7(C), or whether the agency has disclosed all reasonably segregable materials.

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.

Court opinion issued Sept. 21, 2020

Michigan Immigration Rights Ctr. v. DHS ( E.D. Mich.) -- denying plaintiff’s motion for monetary sanctions against government for missing court-ordered production deadlines, because plaintiff failed to show that government acted in bad faith.

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.

Court opinions issued Sept. 18, 2020

Judicial Watch v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- ruling that DOJ properly invoked Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege to withhold four drafts of Acting Attorney General Yates’ January 30, 2017 memorandum regarding Executive Order 13,769.

Lindsey v. FBI (D.D.C.) -- on renewed summary judgment, concluding that: (1) FBI performed adequate search for records pertaining to arrest of Lebanese-American businessman at Dulles Airport in 2003; and (2) FBI properly refused to confirm or deny existence of any other records concerning same individual pursuant to Exemptions 1, 3, and 7(C).

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.

Court opinion issued Sept. 16, 2020

Coleman v. Dep't of Navy (D.D.C.) -- concluding that agency performed adequate search for video footage related to murder conviction of plaintiff’s client.

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.

Court opinions issued Sept. 15, 2020

Competitive Enter. Inst. v. U.S. Dep’t of State (D.D.C.) -- concluding that agency properly relied on Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege to withhold legal memorandum that consisted of subordinate officials views on legal questions raised concerning Paris Climate Agreement.

Wash. Post v. SIGAR (D.D.C.) -- deciding, in most relevant part, that Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction performed adequate search for interviews related to agency’s Lessons Learned Program, that it properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 7(A), 7(E), and 7(F), and that more information was required for court to evaluate withholdings under Exemptions 1, 3, 5, 6, and 7(C).

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.

Court opinion issued Sept. 14, 2020

Nat'l Day Laborer Org. Network v. ICE (S.D.N.Y.) -- finding that: (1) with the exception of one record, ICE improperly relied on attorney-client and attorney work-product privileges to withhold records concerning DHS’s “Priority Enforcement Program”; (2) ICE did not justify its withholding of memoranda under deliberative process privilege and DHS neglected to explain how disclosure of deliberative memoranda would reasonably cause harm; (3) government properly withheld some but not all records categorized as talking points, emails, and draft documents.

Houser v. HHS (D D.C.) -- ruling that HHS performed reasonable search for records pertaining to plaintiff'-prisoner’s former nursing homes and that agency properly withheld third-party records pursuant to Exemption 6.

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.