Novak v. Cent. Intelligence Agency (D.D.C.) — in a case concerning a requester’s access to records about her mother’s officially acknowledged service at the CIA, granting in part and denying in part the agency’s motion for summary judgment; concluding, with respect to Exemption 1, that records were properly exempt from automatic declassification, despite their age (which, in the case of two records, was “more than 50 years old”), because of ongoing sensitivity, as “plausibly” explained by the agency’s declarant in sufficient detail; accordingly rejecting the requester’s request for in camera review; opining also that an agency “is entitled to a presumption that it complied with the obligation to disclose reasonably segregable material”; holding further, with respect to Exemption 3, that the agency properly relied on the CIA Act of 1949 to withhold various categories of information; finally, concluding the agency failed to meet its burden to redact “personal information” about “third-party individuals, i.e., individuals not employed by the CIA”; noting, for example, how “the CIA has not made any real effort to determine whether the third parties involved are still alive,” or whether they have cognizable privacy interests “at stake”; granting the CIA another opportunity to reassess its Exemption 6 withholding and to submit additional affidavits with a renewed motion for summary judgment.
Judicial Watch v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice (D.D.C) — ruling that the FBI properly relied on Exemption 7(E) to redact the total amount it paid Twitter for legal-process requests in each calendar quarter from 2016 to 2023, reasoning that while the existence of the FBI’s requests is publicly known, the payment amounts would reveal how frequently the FBI employs this technique and which platforms it prioritizes. In reaching its conclusion, the court deferred to the FBI’s judgment about the risks of disclosure, and plaintiff conceded that releasing the information would cause foreseeable harm
Carzoglio v. Executive Office for U.S. Attys (D.D.C.) — holding that EOUSA properly relied on Exemption 7(C) to categorically withhold all records concerning the criminal prosecution of a former police chief whose department had investigated and arrested plaintiff in an earlier case; explaining that plaintiff’s interest in challenging his conviction was not a cognizable “public interest” under the statute, and that the prosecution of the police chief for tax evasion “had nothing to do with” plaintiff’s earlier investigation or conviction.
Summaries of published opinions issued in 2026 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2025, 2024, and from 2015 to 2023.
