Energy Policy Advocates v. Dep’t of the Interior (D.D.C.) -- deciding that: (1) agency performed adequate search for calendar and meeting records of agency senior advisor, noting that agency was not required to search for in-meeting chats on Zoom, which the agency did not control; (2) agency properly relied on Exemption 6 to withhold personal email addresses, email addresses of White House, EOP, DOD, and DHS employees, and a cell phone number; and (3) agency’s generic, boilerplate explanations for its deliberative process privilege claims did not “even come close” to meeting its burden, nor did agency’s justifications for relying on the presidential communications privilege.
Akel v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- ruling that Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys performed adequate supplemental search for certain archived emails pertaining to plaintiff’s criminal case, but that it neglected to adequately explain its search methods in response to broader, second request.
Gatore v. DHS (D.C. Cir.) (unpublished) -- affirming district court’s decision to deny class certification under Rule 23(b)(3), principally because agency had rescinded its policy of withholding “Assessment to Refer” documents in full, rendering case moot.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.