FOIA Advisor

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Court opinions issued Sept. 28, 2017

Agrama v. IRS (D.D.C.)-- determining that agency properly relied on Exemption 7(A) to withhold all disputed records pertaining to investigation of plaintiff's tax payments.

Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. EPA (D.D.C.) -- finding that: (1) agency failed to perform reasonable search for records concerning pesticide product; (2) agency properly withheld personal phone number pursuant to Exemption 6; (3) agency failed to demonstrate propriety of withholdings made under Exemption 5; and (4) plaintiff failed to show that agency had pattern of practice of disregarding FOIA response deadline or neglecting to provide estimated completion dates.

Codrea v. ATF (D.D.C.) -- ruling that agency's failure to release records until plaintiff filed lawsuit was insufficient to establish plaintiff's eligibility for attorney's fees. 

Alford v. Dep't of Veterans Affairs (D.D.C.) -- concluding that: (1) agency failed to perform adequate search for a portion of plaintiff's vocational rehabilitation case records; (2) plaintiff exhausted his administrative remedies with respect to request for certain email; and (3) plaintiff was eligible and entitled to award of $400 filing fee for lawsuit, noting agency's "unreasonable intransigence" and "numerous unforced errors."  

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here