FOIA Advisor

Court opinions issued Jan. 5 & 7, 2016

Court Opinions (2015-2023)Allan BlutsteinComment

Jan. 7, 2016

Estate of Abduljaami v. U.S. Dep't of State (S.D.N.Y.) -- determining that agency conducted a reasonable search for records concerning death of an individual in Cologne, Germany, and that disputed information was properly protected under Exemption 6.  

Polk v. Fed. Bureau of Investigation (N.D. Cal.) -- holding that FBI conducted a reasonable search in response to pro se prisoner's request for records concerning a file number that plaintiff mistakenly believed was evidence of an FBI investigation concerning her.  

Jan. 5, 2016

Navigators Ins. Co. v. Dep't of Justice (D. Conn.) -- ruling that plaintiff was not entitled to declaratory relief merely because the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys had failed to timely process plaintiff's requests, even though the agency delays were "egregious."  The court further rejected plaintiff's argument that "public interest"  was sufficient to overcome Exemption 7(C)  or any other asserted exemptions.  The court,  however, declined to grant summary judgment for the government because  its "meager" declaration failed to demonstrate that it had conducted an adequate search.  

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here