Court opinion issued Oct. 27, 2020

Connell v. U.S. Southern Command (D.D.C. 2020) -- determining that: (1) agency properly relied on Exemption 3 in conjunction with 10 U.S.C. § 130b, to withhold names of individuals assigned to military unit in Guantanamo Bay; (2) agency properly invoked Exemption 6 to withhold personally identifying information of military personnel below the rank of Major, Lieutenant Colonel, or Colonel, but that neither party was entitled to summary judgment on any records withheld about military personnel at those ranks or their GS equivalents.

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

Court opinion issued Oct. 26, 2020

Am. Small Bus. League v. SBA (N.D. Cal.) -- deferring ruling on plaintiff’s summary judgment motion regarding Paycheck Protection Program loan information until District of Columbia decides two cases seeking same information.

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

Court opinion issued Oct. 20, 2020

Spadaro v. U.S. Customs & Border Prot. (2nd Cir.) -- affirming district court’s decision that the Department of State properly relied on Exemption 3, in conjunction with section 222(f) of Immigration and Nationality Act, to withhold records about government’s revocation of plaintiff’s visa. In a separate summary order, the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision that the FBI properly withheld records pertaining to plaintiff pursuant to Exemption 5’s deliberative process and attorney work-product privileges.

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

Court opinions issued Oct. 15, 2020

Petrucelli v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- determining on renewed summary judgment that Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys performed adequate search for certain records pertaining to plaintiff’s criminal case.

Whittaker v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- concluding on renewed summary judgment that FBI properly withheld results of plaintiff’s “National Agency Check” pursuant to Exemption 7(E),

Block v. FTC (D. Mass.) -- ruling that: (1) agency failed to provide sufficient information to permit court to determine whether records pertaining to agency’s 2019 settlement with Facebook were properly withheld pursuant to Exemption 4; (2) agency properly relied on Exemption 7(C) to withhold identifying information of Facebook employees and of individuals “of investigative interest,” except for CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whose investigation was officially acknowledged by two FTC Commissioners.

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

Court opinions issued Oct. 9, 2020

Freedom of Press Found. v. DOJ (S.D.N.Y.) -- finding that: (1) FBI performed adequate search for records relating to surveillance of news media and that it properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 1, 3, and 7(E); and (2) DOJ’s Criminal Division improperly relied on Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege to withhold training slide and official instruction form.

Long v. ICE (N.D.N.Y.) -- ruling that ICE failed to establish that it performed adequate search for certain records pertaining to agency’s use of detainers and notices of release, and that it failed to establish that search for requested information would require creating new records or would be unduly burdensome.

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

Court opinion issued Oct. 8, 2020

Shapiro v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- denying plaintiff’s request to reconsider court’s July 2, 2020 opinion, noting that plaintiff failed to identify a legal basis for its motion and concluding that none existed.

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

Court opinion issued Oct. 7, 2020

Pichardo-Martinez v. USMS (D.D.C.) -- finding that agency performed adequate search for records pertaining to plaintiff’s detainment and medical treatment and that it properly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 7(C) and 7(E).

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

Court opinions issued Oct. 6, 2020

Seife v. FDA (S.D.N.Y) -- concluding that FDA properly relied on Exemption 4 to withhold records pertaining to its accelerated approval of a muscular dystrophy drug; noting that statute’s foreseeable harm provision applied to Exemption 4 and was met in this case.

Yanofsky v. U.S. Dep't of Commerce (D.D.C.) -- deciding that agency did not sufficiently establish that it either provided plaintiff with requested data files or that it did not maintain those files.

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

Court opinions issued Oct. 5, 2020

Pub. Justice Found. v. Farm Service Agency (N.D. Cal.) -- determining that agency’s declarations were too conclusory to show that agency performed adequate search for records pertaining to its FOIA policies and directives.

Council on American-Islamic Relations v. U.S. Customs & Border Prot. (W.D. Wash.) -- ruling that: (1) agency failed to show that it conducted reasonable search for records pertaining to heightened screening instructions issued by Seattle Office in January 2020; (2) agency improperly relied on deliberative process privilege to withhold discussions of “public-facing” statement; (3) agency properly relied on Exemption 6 to withhold employee email addresses and names of lower-level officials, but was required to release names of two senior officials who implement policy at issue; (4) agency did not provide sufficient details to permit court to evaluate its Exemption 7(E) claim and ordering in camera review of disputed documents.

Bragg v. CIA (D.D.C.) -- dismissing suit because plaintiff failed to respond to government’s motion to dismiss on exhaustion grounds.

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

Court opinion issued Oct. 1, 2020

Peak v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- concluding that FBI performed reasonable search for DNA records pertaining plaintiff’s first-degree murder conviction.

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