Court opinion issued Sept. 18, 2025

Crow Creek Sioux Tribe v. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Servs. (D. S.D.) -- awarding plaintiff $27,484 in attorney’s fees and costs after finding it was both eligible and entitled to such an award; as to eligibility, the court concluded that the lawsuit was the catalyst for the agency’s delayed response, noting that the agency did not begin searching for records until nearly two months after the complaint was filed and did not attempt to extend the statutory deadline; regarding entitlement, the court determined that plaintiff’s request served a significant public interest, involved no commercial motive, and that the government lacked a reasonable legal basis for the delay; lastly, the court deemed the requested fees largely reasonable, except for time spent on an unfiled summary judgment motion, which warranted a 50 percent reduction.

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2025 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2024 and from 2015 to 2023.

FOIA News: "We're going to need a focus group"

The FOIA Advisory Committee is seeking volunteers from the federal ranks to participate in focus groups in October “aimed at discussing the challenges and obstacles FOIA professional face when implementing new ideas.” See details here.

Court opinion issued Sept. 16, 2025

Brown v. FBI (D.D.C.) -- finding that: (1) the FBI performed an adequate search for records concerning plaintiff’s 1995 arrest; (2) the FBI, DEA, and EOUSA properly relied on Exemptions 6 and 7(C) to redact identifying information about special agents, local law enforcement personnel, and third parties mentioned or of investigative interest; (3) FBI properly invoked Exemption 7(E) to protect “nonpublic coordination with other government agencies” and “sensitive information contained within FBI FD-515 forms”; (4) as an alternative basis for Exemptions 6 and 7(C), DEA properly relied on Exemption 7(F) to protect names and identifying information of DEA agents, and the EOUSA properly used the same exemption protected names and identifying information of individuals who were interviewed by the FBI; and (5) the FBI failed to adequately describe, let alone justify, withholding some pages that may have been withheld in full.

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2025 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2024 and from 2015 to 2023.

Court opinion issued Sept. 15, 2025

Azizi v. Noem (E.D. Cal.) -- dismissing plaintiff’s FOIA claim seeking access to “aggregate data and statistics related to humanitarian parole applications for Afghanistan citizens and nationals,” because plaintiffs lacked standing to litigate a FOIA request submitted by their attorney on his own behalf.

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2025 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2024 and from 2015 to 2023.

Jobs, jobs, jobs: One for the money, two for the show

Att’y-Advisor, Dep’t of Homeland Sec./HQ, GS 13-15, Wash., DC, closes 9/26/25 (public).

Att’y-Advisor, Dep’t of Justice/OIP, GS 12-14, Wash., DC, closes 10/2/25 (public).

FOIA News: USAID plans global "still interested" notice

According to a notice slated for publication in the Federal Register, the U.S. Agency for International Development (“USAID”) will be opening a global “still interested” inquiry for all FOIA requests submitted prior to January 20, 2025. Further details can be found in the notice. The notice indicated that, due to reorganization efforts, “[m]ost subject matter experts and record custodians are no longer available, which will particularly limits USAID’s ability to locate, review, and release records for prior year requests in a timely manner.”

The Department of Energy came under considerable fire last month when it announced it was undertaking the same type of global inquiry (see here and here) with an eye to administratively closing requests in the agency’s FOIA backlog. The agency’s efforts are now the subject of litigation brought by American Oversight.

Jobs, jobs, jobs: Two Tickets to Paradise

FOIA Specialist, Dep’t of Homeland Sec./USCG, GS 9, Falling Waters, WV, closes 9/22/25 (non-public).

Supv. Gen. Att’y, Fed. Trade Comm’n, GS 15, Wash., DC, closes 9/25/25 (public).

Court opinion issued Sept. 10, 2025

Hoffmann v. U.S. Customs & Border Prot. (E.D. Pa.) -- on renewed summary judgment, ruling that the government performed a reasonable search for communications related to migrant coordination at the Eagle Pass, Texas Port of Entry; further, finding that CBP’s inability to locate two relevant Samsung phones from 2019—one destroyed pursuant to routine data security protocols and the other unaccounted for despite extensive searches—did not reflect bad faith or intentional spoliation.

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2025 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2024 and from 2015 to 2023.

FOIA News: Reminder of FOIA Advisory Committee mtg.

The federal FOIA Advisory Committee for the 2024-2026 term will meet on Thursday, September 11, 2025, at 10am. Meeting materials and a livestream link are here.

Court opinion issued Sept. 9, 2025

Usher v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- following in-camera review of 9 pages of records pertaining to antitrust proceedings against plaintiff, finding that DOJ improperly redacted portions of FBI interview notes under Exemption 3 in conjunction with Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e); specifically, the court held that only statements explicitly identifying documents as grand jury exhibits could be withheld—not redacted content consisting of witness’s discussions about public market data or trading activity, which did not implicate a secret aspect of the grand jury’s investigation.

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2025 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2024 and from 2015 to 2023.