Okeayainneh v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- on renewed summary judgment, finding that Federal Bureau of Prisons supplementally released in full all remaining records at issue and no further dispute remained.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
June 24, 2021
Informed Consent Action Net. v. NIH (D. Ariz.) -- concluding that: (1) NIH performed adequate search for safety and efficacy data concerning Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, and (2) NIH failed to show that certain information, such as patients’ age or adverse events, was properly redacted under Exemption 6.
Maehr v. IRS (D. Colo.) -- ruling that agency performed adequate search for certain tax assessment documents concerning plaintiff and that plaintiff was not entitled to a court declaration that such documents do or do not exist, or have ever existed, within the IRS's record-keeping system.
June 23, 2021
Satterlee v. IRS (W.D. Mo.) -- denying government’s motion to dismiss after finding that: (1) plaintiff’s certified mail delivery receipts were sufficient evidence that IRS received plaintiff’s requests; and (2) construed liberally, plaintiff’s second request was valid despite also containing a demand for non-FOIA action.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
Cole v. Olthoff (D.D.C. ) -- on renewed summary judgment, finding that the National Institute for Standards and Technology properly relied on Exemption 3, in conjunction with section 7(c) of the National Construction Safety Team Act, to withhold notes of interviews of former employees of Salomon Smith Barney regarding collapse of World Trade Center buildings on 9/11.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
Pub. Emps. for Envtl. Responsibility v.EPA (D.D.C.) -- deciding that EPA properly relied on Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege to withhold in full a working draft version of a formaldehyde assessment.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
Jobe v. NTSB (5th Cir.) -- reversing and remanding district court’s decision and holding that “outside parties solicited by the NTSB qualify as ‘consultants’ under Exemption 5’s corollary; rejecting district court’s view that technical personnel employed by aircraft manufacturers and operators have too much “self-interest” in outcome of NTSB investigations to be regarded as consultants.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
Kovalevich v. Bureau of Indian Affairs (D.D.C.) -- ruling that: (1) agency performed reasonable search for records pertaining to plaintiff’s arrest and properly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 7(C), issues that plaintiff conceded; (2) court lacked jurisdiction to consider plaintiff’s claims about agency’s fee practices, because agency released all records free of charge; (3) pro se plaintiff was not eligible for attorney’s fees and he failed to argue why he was eligible and entitled to recover his litigation costs.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
Odor v. USCIS (E.D. Mich.) -- concluding that agency performed reasonable search for plaintiff’s A-file, that agency’s Vaughn index was sufficient, and that in camera review of withheld records was unnecessary.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
Casillas-Prieto v. USMS (D.D.C.) -- ruling that legal visitation records concerning plaintiff’s confinement at agency contract facility were not agency records, and that USMS properly segregated non-responsive records that it voluntarily released.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
Ecological Rights Found. v. EPA (N.D. Cal.) -- after reviewing 30 sample documents in camera, deciding that: (1) EPA improperly relied on Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege to withhold discussions regarding general personnel matters and hiring plans; records concerning early employee retirement and separation programs; and responses to oversight, investigatory, and media inquiries; (2) EPA demonstrated the applicability of the attorney-client privilege and presidential communications privilege, but the agency neglected to describe any foreseeable harm that would result from disclosure; (3) EPA improperly relied on Exemption 6 to withhold a reporter’s business phone number and the names of restaurants frequented by Administrator Pruitt; the agency properly relied on the exemption to withhold portions of employee resignation letters; and (4) EPA was required to review all remaining responsive documents in accordance with the court’s findings.
Emuwa v. DHS (D.D.C.) -- finding that DHS properly used Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege to withhold the analyses of asylum officers concerning applications for asylum, consistent with a 2015 D.C. Circuit decision concerning the same type of documents.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.
Advocates for the West v. Bonneville Power Admin. (D. Or.) -- granting partial summary judgment to plaintiff because agency violated statutory response deadlines, and ordering agency to release 5,000 responsive pages per month.
Judicial Watch v. U.S. Dep’t of State (D.D.C.) -- ruling that: (1) agency conducted adequate search for records concerning President Obama and Secretary Clinton after case was reopened due to the Secretary’s use of a private email server; and (2) plaintiff was precluded from re-raising issues that had been settled before case was reopened.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.