Court opinions issued Dec. 8, 2021

AquAlliance v. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (D.D.C.) -- ruling that agency performed adequate search for summaries of certain 2020 water transfers; rejecting plaintiff’s argument that agency was also required to search for underlying data, because plaintiff expressly limited its request to summaries.

W. Watersheds Project v. Nat'l Park Serv. (D. Idaho) -- granting government’s motion to change venue to Utah notwithstanding plaintiff’s principal place of business in Idaho, because case primarily involves plaintiff’s FOIA requests for documents located in Utah and how agency employees in Utah responded to those requests.

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

Court opinion issued Dec. 7, 2021

Pickering v. DOJ (W.D.N.Y.) -- concluding that FBI performed reasonable search for records pertaining to convicted murderer Leonard Peltier and properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 3, 5 (attorney work-product), 6, 7(C), 7(D), and 7(E).

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

Court opinion issued Dec. 3, 2021

Surgey v. EPA (D.D.C.) -- determining that: (1) EPA likely performed reasonable search for records concerning former Administrator’s trip to 2018 Rose Bowl game, but neglected to invoke the “magic words” that it searched all locations likely to contain responsive records; (2) EPA properly relied on Exemption 6 to withhold records about the former Administrator’s family vacation, and reserving judgment as to whether the agency properly withheld records concerning security personnel’s travel and logistical coordination under Exemptions 7(E) and 7(F).

Elec. Privacy Info. Serv. v. IRS (D.D.C.) -- ruling that the IRS improperly relied on Exemption 3 to withhold tax settlement agreements between the agency and Donald Trump and businesses associated with him, and that plaintiff was precluded from accessing copies of tax returns pursuant to the same exemption.

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

Court opinion issued Nov. 30, 2021

Elec. Privacy Info. Ctr. v. DOJ (D.C. Cir.) -- affirming district court’s decision that DOJ properly invoked Exemption 7(C) to redact the identities of third parties investigated but not charged by Special Counsel Mueller, except with respect to “the information relating to individuals investigated for campaign violations, as the factual circumstances surrounding this portion of the investigation are already publicly available in the unredacted portions” of Muller’s report.

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

Court opinions issued Nov. 29, 2021

Nat. Res. Def. Council v. EPA (2nd Cir.) -- reversing in part and vacating in part district court’s decision and holding that: (1) “messaging documents”— i.e., records relating to agency’s decision about how to communicate its policies to people outside the agency—merit protection under Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege unless they reflect “merely descriptive discussions”; and (2) “briefing documents”—i.e., records “created to brief senior agency staff about various topics”—could qualify under the deliberative process privilege even if they did not relate to a specific decision facing the agency.”

Bolze v. EOUSA (D.D.C.) -- granting summary judgment to government after determining that EOUSA and FBI performed adequate searches for records concerning plaintiff and that plaintiff declined to challenge any withholdings.

Brennan Ctr. for Justice v. ICE (S.D.N.Y.) -- deciding that ICE did not perform adequate search for certain handbooks and training material and that agency properly withheld some portions, but not all, of its National Security Investigation Handbook pursuant to Exemption 7(E).

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

Court opinions issued Nov. 24, 2021

Am. Civil Liberties Union v. CIA (D.D.C.) -- in case concerning the names of current or former government employees who had been granting exemptions from prepublication process, ruling that CIA properly withheld certain names pursuant to Exemptions 1 and 3 but not Exemption 6.

Nat'l Pub. Radio v. Int'l Dev. Fin. Corp. (C.D. Cal.) -- ruling that: (1) agency improperly relied on the deliberative privilege process to withhold three categories of records concerning proposed $756 million loan to the Eastman Kodak, noting that the record constituted public messaging, not substantive policy decisions; and (2) two of three remaining disputed emails fell within the deliberative process and met the foreseeable harm standard.

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

Court opinions issued Nov. 19, 2021

Am. Civil Liberties Union v. DHS (S.D.N.Y.) -- finding that government’s proposed processing rate of 500 pages monthly was reasonable and ordering DHS to refer plaintiff’s request to two components that might have potentially responsive records.

Chavis v. EOUSA (D.D.C.) -- on renewed summary judgment, ruling that EOUSA performed adequate search for records pertaining to plaintiff’s criminal case and that Exemption 5 issue was moot because agency released disputed records.

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

Court opinion issued Nov. 18, 2021

Buckley v. DOJ (W.D.N.Y.) -- ruling that: (1) FBI performed reasonable search for records concerning plaintiff and third parties, (2) FBI failed to provide enough information to justify withholding records pursuant to Exemption 3 in conjunction with the Pen Register Act; (3) FBI properly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 7(C), 7(D), and 7(F).

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

Court opinions issued Nov. 10, 2021

Nat’ l Pub. Radio v. U.S. Central Command (S.D. Cal.) -- finding that plaintiff’s lawsuit concerning the First Battle of Fallujah in 2004 was not substantially similar to lawsuit filed earlier in Northern District of California and denying government’s motion to dismiss.

Am. Ctr. for Law & Justice v. DHS (D.D.C.) -- dismissing case after concluding that plaintiff’s request “referencing or regarding in any way” eight “broadly defined immigration-related subject areas” was not reasonably described.

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

Court opinions issued Nov. 8, 2021

Reporters Comm. for Freedom of Press v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- ruling that: (1) EOUSA, FBI, and the Criminal Division failed to perform adequate searches for records pertaining to Bryan Carmody; and (2) FBI properly relied on Exemption 7(C) to withhold name of one agent who questioned Mr. Carmody, but that name of second agency was in the public domain and could not be withheld.

Mitchell v. U.S. Dep't of Veterans Affairs (S.D.N.Y.) -- finding that agency performed adequate search for records concerning insurance benefits of plaintiff’s grandfather and that it properly withheld certain records pursuant to Exemption 6.

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