Court opinions issued Aug. 10-11, 2023

Aug. 11, 2023

Magassa v. FBI (D.D.C.) -- determining that agency conducted adequate search for records concerning plaintiff and that it properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 6, 7(C). 7(E), and 3 in conjunction with the National Security Act of 1947, as amended; further determining that FBI properly relied on Exemption 7(E) in refusing to confirm or deny whether plaintiff appeared on any “watch list” records,

Aug. 10, 2023

Buzzfeed, Inc. v. DHS (D.D.C.) -- in case involving detention records from DHS database, ruling that: (1) Customs and Border Protection properly withheld alien registration numbers pursuant to Exemption 7(C), likening them to social security numbers; (2) CBP did not sufficiently explain how disclosure of anonymized A-numbers or fingerprint identification numbers would compromise anyone’s privacy; and (2) CBP properly relied on Exemption 7(E) to withhold locations of Border Patrol stations, and both parties failed to explain scope of their Exemption 7(E) dispute concerning database definitions.

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

Court opinions issued Aug. 9, 2023

Bonner v. FBI (S.D.N.Y.) -- holding that government properly relied on Exemption 3 to redact records prepared by former FBI agents concerning the detention of terrorist Abu Zubaydah; stating that government’s classified declarations “reflect an unusual and commendable degree of care in the Government's approach to classification and redactions. They reflect, as well, that the redactions to the materials in this case were made judiciously, not excessively, and based on a sophisticated and informed understanding of the ongoing national security threats posed by al Qaeda and its affiliates.”

N.Y. Times v, FBI (S.D.N.Y.) -- in case concerning FBI’s report about “Havana Syndrome,” ruling that: (1) agency failed to sufficiently establish the applicability of Exemptions 7(A) and 7(E), thus warranting in camera review of the report; and (2) agency properly relied on Exemptions 6 and 7(C) to withhold the names and phone numbers of Special Agents, locations of victims and their health information, and identifying information of certain witnesses, none of which plaintiff disputes.

Am. Civil Liberties Union of Mass. v. ICE (D. Mass.) -- determining after in camera review that ICE properly used Exemption 5 or Exemption 7(E) to withhold many, but not all, communications from senior attorneys to trial attorneys counting case descriptions, practice pointers, legal strategies, and other guidance.

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

FOIA News: Umbrella agency rescinds FOIA regulations

The National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities has issued final rule rescinding its FOIA regulations because each of its constituent agencies “either have adopted their own agency-specific regulations, or are not required to implement [FOIA] regulations.”

Court opinion issued Aug. 7, 2023

Ctr. for Medical Progress v. HHS (D.D.C.) -- finding that HHS properly relied on Exemption 6 to withhold identities of two NIH employees who worked on university grant application pertaining to the collection and distribution of fetal stem cell tissue, noting that the potential for violence and harassment outweighed plaintiff’s asserted public interests.

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

FOIA News: FEC agrees to pay NRA $25,000 for hiding key documents

FEC agrees to pay NRA $25,000 for hiding key documents

By Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner, Aug. 8, 2023

The Federal Election Commission agreed today to pay $25,000 to the National Rifle Association for hiding documents critical to the gun lobby’s effort to defend itself in a costly election lawsuit.

The embarrassing agreement will cover the costs NRA lawyers spent in its Freedom of Information Act suit against the FEC.

Read more here.

FOIA News: DOJ defends IRS withholdings in Eighth Circuit

IRS Can Hide Fraud ID Docs From FOIA Request, 8th Circ. Told

By Anna Scott Farrell, Law360, Aug. 7, 2023

The IRS was right to withhold its techniques for questioning fraud suspects from a retired Harvard law professor's records request under the Freedom of Information Act, the U.S. government argued Monday,...

Read more here (accessible with free registration)

Underlying case information is here.

FOIA News: OGIS posts 2022 FOIA assessment

On August 4, 2023, the Office of Government Information Services published Assessing Freedom of Information Act Compliance through the National Archives and Records Administration’s 2022 Records Management Self-Assessment, which discusses the results of six FOIA questions posed to agency records officers.

FOIA News: FOIA suit seeks to uncover Civil War gold

Three Men Battle the FBI Over Buried Civil War Gold. ‘Stuff Just Doesn’t Add Up.’

Treasure hunters are aiming to prove there were tons of loot in the ground in Pennsylvania—and that the government took it

By Kris Maher, Wall St. J., Aug. 5, 2023

DENTS RUN, Pa.—Dennis Parada points to a weedy spot where he believes the Federal Bureau of Investigation dug up nine tons of Civil War-era gold, worth more than $500 million, and made off with it in the middle of the night.

The patch of ground halfway up a mountain in western Pennsylvania lies at the heart of the treasure hunter’s quest to recover the trove and prove it was snatched from under his nose. The matter is now playing out in federal court.

At 70, he has been chasing the Dents Run gold for more than 40 years. “It’s definitely a major coverup,” says Parada, who has the mustache of a 19th-century gambler and smokes his cigarettes down to a stub. 

* * *

The Paradas sued the FBI last year in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. seeking enforcement of a Freedom of Information Act request. They now allege the FBI has failed to turn over certain records and doctored some photos to conceal a night dig. 

The FBI declined to comment on the lawsuit, but denies it kept digging at night. 

Read more here (subscription required).

The FOIA case docket is available here.

The FOIA Complaint is available here.

Court opinion issued Aug. 2, 2023

Vaskas v. DHS (D.D.C.) -- in case concerning records of plaintiff’s criminal conviction for possession of child pornography, holding that: (1) agency properly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 3 in conjunction with the Federal Victims’ Protection & Rights Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3509(d); (2) agency properly invoked Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege to withhold communications pertaining its investigation, case planning and surveillance of plaintiff; (3) agency properly withheld identifying information of government employees and third parties pursuant to Exemptions 6 and 7(C).

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

Court opinion issued Aug. 1, 2023

La Union DEL Pueblo Entero v. FEMA (S.D. Tex.) -- in most relevant part, (1) adopting magistrate’s report and recommendation (R&R) that FEMA failed to show that it adequately searched for records concerning its “Individuals and Households Program”; and (2) agreeing with R&R that FOIA authorizes prospective injunctive relief as a remedy, but declining to decide whether it can enforce the electronic reading room requirement.

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