Court opinions issued Oct. 22, 2021

White v. DOJ (7th Cir.) -- affirming district court’s decision that FBI’s 500-page-per-month production rate was proper; FBI and U.S. Marshals Service performed reasonable searches concerning plaintiff and white-supremacist groups; FBI properly issued Glomar responses regarding third-party record requests; and plaintiff was not entitled to litigation costs.

Open Soc’y Justice Initiative v. DOD (S.D.N.Y.) -- on renewed summary judgment, ruling that CIA properly relied on Exemption 1 and 3 in refusing to confirm or deny existence of certain records pertaining to COVID-19.

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

Court opinion issued Oct. 20, 2021

Ramaci v. FBI (S.D.N.Y) -- rejecting plaintiff’s argument that FBI improperly relied on Exemption 7(D) to withhold records concerning death of plaintiff’s husband, Steven Vincent, in Iraq, and further finding that FBI’s undisputed withholdings under Exemptions 5, 6, 7(C), and 7(E) were appropriate.

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

Court opinion issued Oct. 19, 2021

Ball v. USMS (D.D.C.) -- ruling that: (1) U.S. Marshals Service performed adequate search for records concerning prisoner-plaintiff; (2) USMS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement properly withheld records (collectively or individually ) pursuant to Exemptions 3, 6. 7(C), 7(E), and 7(F) and met statute’s foreseeable harm requirement, which it noted did not apply to Exemption 3.

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

FOIA News: 9th Circuit considers intervention request by Volkswagen

9th Circ. Mulls VW Intervening In Fight For Jones Day Report

By Lauren Berg, Law360, Oct. 21, 2021

A Ninth Circuit judge questioned when a third party must intervene in a suit involving its interests, indicating during oral arguments Thursday that Volkswagen was timely in its bid for a say on whether the government should release an internal VW investigation conducted by Jones Day. During remote arguments for Volkswagen's appeal, U. S. Circuit Judge John B. Owens said Ninth Circuit precedent states that a third party doesn't have to intervene as soon as it becomes aware of a lawsuit involving its interests but can timely jump in when it knows its interests won't be adequately represented.

Read more here (accessible with free 7-day trial).

FOIA News: D.C. Circuit to resume in-person arguments with FOIA case

When the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit resumes in-person hearings on December 1, 2021, one of its first three cases will be a FOIA case: Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Wash. v. DOJ, No. 21-5113, which concerns the use of the deliberative process privilege to withhold portions of a legal memorandum concerning Special Counsel Mueller’s report.

Court opinions issued Oct. 18, 2021

Cole v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- dismissing plaintiff’s claim concerning his request for FBI records about the Junior Black Mafia because he failed to file an administrative appeal with DOJ’s Office of Information Policy.

Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press v. U.S Customs & Border Prot. (D.D.C.) -- in case concerning records of agency’s interaction with Twitter, finding that: (1) CBP properly withheld certain, but not all, records pursuant to Exemption 5’s deliberative process, attorney work-product, and attorney-client privileges, citing in some instances the lack of foreseeable harm; (2) CBP properly relied on Exemption 7(C) to withhold names of “non-public-facing” employees, except for two Special Agents whose names were in public domain; and (3) CBP properly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 7(E).

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

FOIA News: Jason Baron to reveal FOIA "secrets"

University of Maryland professor and former NARA litigator Jason Baron will lead a FOIA discussion on November 17, 2021, entitled “Secrets of the Freedom of the Information Act: Everything you need to know about the FOIA process (including finding out where the Roswell documents are).”

See here for more details about the event.

Court opinion issued Oct. 13, 2021

Friends of Animals v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Serv. (10th Cir.) -- affirming in part and reversing in part district court’s decision and holding that: (1) agency properly relied on Exemption 7(C) to withhold names of individuals importing African giraffe parts or products; (2) Exemption 7(C) did not protect names of individuals importing African elephant skins and parts because names were publicly available elsewhere and prospect of harassment was “primarily speculative”; and (3) agency could not sustain its Exemption 4 withholdings using agency affidavit containing inadmissible hearsay.statements. A partial dissent argued that the majority undervalued the privacy interests of elephant importers and overvalued the public interests at stake.

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

FOIA News: NY Times on the death of Russ Kick

Russ Kick, ‘Rogue Transparency Activist,’ Is Dead at 52

Working on his own, he used the Freedom of Information Act to publish suppressed documents, sometimes making front-page news.

By Katherine Q. Seelye, NY Times, Oct. 14, 2021

On the eve of the American-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the Pentagon banned media coverage of the return of the remains of dead soldiers to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

By November, as the death toll rose, Russ Kick, a self-taught expert at digging up information, filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for all the images of coffins arriving at Dover since the war began.

Read more here.

FOIA News: D.C. Circuit hears FOIA argument

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard oral argument on Wednesday in Electronic Privacy Info. Ctr. v. DOJ, No. 20-5364, which concerns access to portions of the Mueller Report that discuss the special counsel’s reasons for not charging certain individuals.