FOIA Advisor

Court opinions issued Mar. 23, 2020

Court Opinions (2015-2023)Allan BlutsteinComment

Nat’l Immigrant Justice Ctr. v. DOJ (7th Cir.) -- affirming district court’s decision that DOJ properly relied on Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege to withhold communications exchanged between the Attorney General and DOJ’s Office of Immigration Litigation or the Solicitor General regarding certain immigration proceedings, rejecting appellant’s argument that such communications were ex parte and outside bounds of Exemption 5.

The Prot. Democracy Proj. v. NSA (D.D.C.) -- holding that agency properly relied on Exemption 5’s presidential communication privilege to withhold memorandum that memorialized ”advice solicited by, and provide to, the President that directly related to presidential decision-making with respect to foreign relations and intelligence-gathering activities.”

Muhammad v. EOUSA (D.D.C.) -- finding that EOUSA properly withheld records concerning plaintiff’s conviction for transportation of a minor for prostitution under Exemption 3, in conjunction with Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e), and Exemption 5 (attorney work product privilege).

Freedom Watch v. Robert S. Mueller III (D.D.C.) -- concluding that DOJ performed adequate search for medial-related records concerning Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in 2016 election, and that it properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 5 (DPP), 6, and 7(C).

Rocky Mtn. Wild v. BLM (D. Colo.) -- ordering BLM to perform supplemental search for records concerning certain land offered for oil and gas leasing, but denying plaintiff’s request for discovery and agreeing that agency properly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 6 and Exemption 5’s deliberative process, attorney-client, and commercial privileges.

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.