Am. First Legal Found. v. Roberts (D.D.C.) — granting the government’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction; holding that the Judicial Conference of the United States and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts are not “agencies” for purposes of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) because they are not “like the Executive Branch entities FOIA explicitly contemplates,” nor are they “government corporations” or “independent agencies,” all of which are indisputably subject to the statute; explaining that, while the Judicial Conference and Administrative Office are not literally “courts,” plaintiff’s “too cramped” reading of the statute ignored how these entities serve important “supporting” functions within the Judicial Branch, both with respect to its policymaking and day-to-day administration; noting, moreover, the “well-trodden path” of past caselaw confirming neither entity is subject to FOIA from which the court saw “no reason to stray”; finally, highlighting the “arbitrary” “line drawing” that would ensue if FOIA applied to any part of the Judicial Branch that was not literally part of “the courts,” i.e., “judges and ‘law clerks,’” as the requester posited based on the phrasing of 5 U.S.C. § 551(1)(B).
Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2025 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2024 and from 2015 to 2023.