Sept. 24, 2021
Campo v. NARA (D.D.C.) -- finding that plaintiff’s complaint properly alleged that NARA improperly withheld agency records and that NARA’s factual assertions as to whether the agency retained legal custody of requested records could not support a motion to dismiss.
Cox v. Bureau of Prisons (D.D.C.) -- determining that agency properly relied on Exemption 6 to withhold handwritten signatures from agency employees’ oaths of office.
Sept. 23, 2021
Ctr. for Investigative Reporting v. DOJ (9th Cir.) -- in 2-1 decision, denying petition for rehearing en banc and amending its December 3, 2021 opinion (but not its ultimate decision) to reverse district’s ruling as to whether Exemption 3 protected certain trace database data.
Sept. 22, 2021
Energy Policy Advocates v. U.S. Dep't of Interior (D.D.C.) -- holding that plaintiff failed to show that its request for records concerning senior advisor Elizabeth Klein satisfied statutory standard for expedited processing.
Am. Civil Liberties Union Found. v. DOJ (N.D. Cal.) -- ruling that three DHS components properly relied on Exemptions 5 and 7(E) to protect some, but not all, disputed records pertaining to social media surveillance.
Sept. 21, 2021
Sheppard v. DOJ (W.D. Mo.) -- concluding that Exemptions 5, 7(C), 7(D) protected some, but not all, records pertaining to DOJ’s investigation into a 1988 arson prosecution in Kansas City, Missouri.
Lewis v. Dep’t of the Treasury (D. Md.) -- finding that: (1) good cause existed to deny dismissal of pro se plaintiff’s FOIA claims on grounds of improper service; (2) plaintiff failed to administratively appeal 37 of 40 decisions by various Treasury components and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); and (3) with respect to the 3 requests that plaintiff did appeal, two Treasury components provided no additional arguments for dismissal and the VA failed to adequately justify its withholdings under Exemptions 5 and 6.
Bragg v. FBI (D.D.C.) -- deciding that: (1) FBI properly relied on Exemptions 6 and 7(C) to withhold names of third parties from records concerning plaintiff, and (2) plaintiff conceded agency’s argument that she failed to administratively appeal denial of separate request for records concerning third party.
Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.