Libarov v. ICE (7th Cir.) -- affirming district court’s decision and holding that: (1) requester was not entitled to a declaratory judgment that ICE violated FOIA for missing statutory response deadline; (2) district court did not clearly err in ruling—after in camera review—that Exemption 7(A) protected investigatory information concerning requester’s sham marriage; and (3) requester could not maintain an Administrative Procedure Act claim against ICE for an alleged policy of delaying FOIA responses, because FOIA provided an adequate remedy.
Alper v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- ruling that: (1) FBI could not rely on Exemption 7(A) to withhold in full all records concerning plaintiff, a death-row inmate who murdered a sheriff’s deputy in 1995, because agency failed to show how disclosure of records would compromise government’s position at two pending enforcement proceedings; (2) FBI properly relied on Exemption 7(C) to withhold identities of FBI personnel, other law enforcement personnel, and civilian third parties; (3) FBI did not show that Exemption 7(D) protected information about cooperative efforts provided by a foreign law enforcement agency more than 30 years ago; (4) FBI properly invoked Exemption 7(E) to withheld identities of investigative databases it used, but a discrepancy with agency’s Vaughn Index precluded use of same exemption to withhold documents requesting assistance from foreign law enforcement agency; and (5) FBI properly invoked Exemption 5’s attorney-client privilege to withhold communications between DOJ counsel and an FBI special agent regarding legal guidance.
Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2025 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2024 and from 2015 to 2023.