FOIA Advisor

Court opinions issued Sept. 29, 2015

Court Opinions (2015-2023)Allan BlutsteinComment

Spears v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- finding that the Criminal Division conducted a reasonable search for requested telephone wiretap records and that it properly withheld certain information pursuant to Exemptions 3, 5, 6 and 7(C).  

Riddick v. Holland (D.D.C.) -- determining that Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys conducted an adequate search for records concerning plaintiff's criminal case, that it properly withheld responsive records under attorney work-product and deliberative process privileges, and that it properly closed plaintiff's requests after plaintiff failed to pay fees after exhausting two hours of free search time.   

Unrow Human Rights Impact Litig. Clinic v. U.S. Dep't of State (D.D.C) -- ruling that requested diplomatic cable was properly withheld under Exemption 1; rejecting plaintiff's waiver argument that agency had acknowledged authenticity of a cable published by newspaper.

Coleman v. Drug Enforcement Admin. (D.D.C.) -- finding that agency's search was sufficient except for agency's failure to search the one office;  further finding that plaintiff was not entitled to a fee waiver determination because agency had provided documents free of charge and plaintiff did not establish likelihood of future injury.  

Bryson v. Susan B. Gerson & U.S. Dep't of Justice (E.D. Cal.) -- dismissing lawsuit because plaintiff failed to pay the fees associated with his request and failed to administratively appeal after agency closed the request for non-payment. 

Summaries of all cases since April 2015 are available here.