Apr. 30, 2021

Farah v. DOJ (D. Minn.) -- following in camera review of disputed documents concerning plaintiff’s prosecution, ruling that: (1) EOUSA that properly relied on Exemption 5’s deliberative process and attorney work-product privileges, except with respect to portions of two pages that contained non-exempt material; and (2) EOUSA properly redacted correspondence pursuant to Exemption 7(C) in all respects.

Apr. 29, 2021

Prop. of People v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- following in camera review of FBI documents pertaining to Donald Trump through 2015, deciding that: (1) FBI properly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 3 in conjunction with Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e); intercepted communications could not be withheld under Exemption 3 in conjunction with Title III of the Omnibus Control and Safe Street Act of 1968, but sealing orders issued by another court would prevent disclosure if still in effect; (2) DOJ properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 7(A), 7(C), and 7(D), but failed to show that disclosure of surveillance logs from more than 20 years ago would cause harms protected by Exemption 7(E).

Apr. 28, 2021

Nat’l Pub. Radio v. FBI (D.D.C.) -- on reconsideration under Rule 60(b), finding that FBI justified its use of Exemptions 7(E) and 7(F) to withhold videos depicting ballistics tests of certain types of ammunition.

Chavis v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- determining that: (1) DEA performed reasonable search for records concerning plaintiff’s murder conviction and properly refused to search for records concerning plaintiff’s co-defendants on privacy grounds; and (2) DEA properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 6, 7(C), 7(D), 7(E), and 7(F).

Apr. 27, 2021

Stoufer v. FBI (D. Alaska) -- concluding that multiple DOJ components conducted reasonable searches concerning plaintiff and that the Office of Inspector General properly relied on Exemption 7(C) to redact names of employees and third parties who handled plaintiff’s complaints.

Gutierrez v. EOUSA (D.D.C.) -- ruling that EOUSA conducted reasonable search for records concerning plainitf’s conviction for producing child pornography.

Apr. 26, 2021

Sartori v. U.S. Army (11th Cir.) (unpublished) -- granting summary affirmance to Army because plaintiff abandoned his appeal and because the district court’s decision was proper on the merits.

Apr. 25, 2021

NY Times v. Def. Health Agency (D.D.C.) -- denying plaintiff’s request for a preliminary junction to compel production, on an expedited basis and by a date certain, extensive data regarding the government’s effort to distribute coronavirus vaccines.

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