Newman v. BOP (D.D.C.) -- determining that government performed “thorough” searches for records concerning former Cuban exile and inmate Antonio Veciana, whose incarceration and supervision ended in the early 1980s. Of note, the court remarked that this case was “yet another example of the “mismatched incentives” that FOIA creates” because “nonprofit FOIA requestees like [plaintiff] pay little to nothing for their FOIA requests . . . [s]o they do not internalize the costs of a wild goose chase like this one. This case has tasked multiple attorneys at three agencies (including the U.S. Attorney's Office) and several FOIA specialists in the search for decades-old inmate records that by regulation should have been transferred or destroyed years ago. Unsurprisingly, they were. But the cost of this predictably fruitless search is borne by the agencies, and ultimately, American taxpayers.”
Story of Stuff Proj. v, U.S. Forest Serv. (D.D.C.) -- awarding $106,214 in attorney’s fees and costs after thirty-percent reduction for time spent on plaintiff’s unsuccessful claims, and disallowing time invested in case after court hearing on plaintiff’s motion for fees and costs.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.