Judge grants Argus Leader Media attorney fees in FOIA lawsuit

By Jonathan Ellis, Argus Leader, August, 4, 2017

A federal judge has awarded Argus Leader Media nearly $70,000 in attorney fees after finding the newspaper “substantially prevailed” in a lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture.

The award comes after Argus Leader Media won a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the department last year. The newspaper sued the department in 2011 after the department refused to turn over five years of sales data for every business in the country that participates in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps.

Following the victory, the Food Marketing Institute intervened in the case, appealing the decision to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal is pending.

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