FOIA Advisor

Court opinions issued Sept. 20, 2016

Court Opinions (2015-2023)Allan BlutsteinComment

Sea Shepherd Conservation Soc'y v. IRS (D.D.C.) -- finding that all but one of the agency's searches for records concerning plaintiff was adequate; that the agency's Glomar response concerning whistleblower records was improper because the agency had already acknowledged existence of records; and that the agency properly invoked Exemption 3 (26 U.S.C. § 6103) and Exemption 7(D).

Pike v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- ruling that the government properly withheld an audio recording of plaintiffs in its entirety under Exemption 7(A), but that waived its right to withhold the portion of the transcript that it had placed into the public domain.

Blank Rome v. Dep't of the Air Force (D.D.C.) -- determining that the Air Force conducted an adequate search for records concerning the termination of a contract and that all but two of its redactions from three disputed documents were proper under Exemption 5.

Johnson v. FBI (E.D. Pa.) -- granting government's motion for reconsideration after determining that FBI's supplemental declarations established the propriety of the agency's withholdings under Exemptions 3, 5, 6, 7(C), 7(D), and 7(E).

Citizens for a Strong New Hampshire v. IRS (D.N.H.) -- denying plaintiff's motion for attorney's fees after concluding that plaintiff's lawsuit was not the proximate cause of agency's release of records and that plaintiff did not substantially prevail by virtue of agency's supplemental search that yield no additional records. 

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.