FOIA Advisor

Court opinions issued May 31, 2017

Court Opinions (2015-2023)Allan BlutsteinComment

Kuzma v. DOJ (2nd Cir.) (summary order) -- affirming district court's decision that FBI conducted adequate search for records concerning civil rights activist Ray Robinson and properly withheld certain records pursuant to Exemption 3, 6, 7(A), 7(C), and 7(D).

Animal Legal Defense Fund v. USDA (N.D. Cal.) -- denying plaintiffs' request for preliminary injunction compelling USDA to restore public access to documents removed from online reading room.  In reaching its decision, the Court concluded that FOIA does not provide a public remedy for reading-room violations and that plaintiffs did not exhaust administrative remedies.  The Court further concluded that Administrative Procedure Act claim was unlikely to succeed and that plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that they are likely to suffer irreparable harm or that the balance of harms weighs in their favor.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.