FOIA Advisor

Court opinions issued June 1-2, 2023

Court Opinions (2015-2023)Allan BlutsteinComment

June 2, 2023

Smolen v. FAA (S.D.N.Y.) -- deciding that: (1) FAA properly relied on Exemption 4 to withhold draft agreement between the agency and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, and that it demonstrated reasonable foreseeable harm from disclosure; and (2) plaintiff failed to administratively appeal the adequacy of the agency’s search, but even if he had, agency’s search was adequate.

June 1, 2023

Sarama v. DEA (M.D. Fla.) -- concluding that: (1) plaintiff was eligible for attorney’s fees and costs because although DEA commenced search for certain records prior to lawsuit, it failed to process and disclose a mere 5 pages for a significant amount of time; (2) plaintiff was entitled to attorney’s fees and costs despite lack of public benefit on disclosure, because DEA’s response was unreasonable and plaintiff’s interest in disclosure was not commercial.

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