FOIA Advisor

Court opinions issued July 29, 2024

Court Opinions (2024)Allan BlutsteinComment

Bermudez v. DOJ (W.D. La.) -- denying attorney’s fees in connection with plaintiff’s request for immigration court case file after determining that: (1) plaintiff was ineligible for an award because he did not obtain relief through judicial order, and the Executive Office for Immigration Review initiated the processing of plaintiff’s request “well before” the lawsuit was filed; and (2) even if plaintiff had substantially prevailed, he would not have been entitled to fees because his request was motivated by personal and commercial interests and EOIR did not deny the request or withhold any records.

Daniels v. Raimondo (N.D. Ill.) -- concluding that U.S. Census Bureau, plaintiff’s former employer, clearly established that its search was reasonably designed to find plaintiff’s personnel records, even if two items plaintiff sought ultimately were not found; rejecting plaintiff’s argument that the agency released several fake documents and noting that plaintiff would not be entitled to any relief under FOIA even if such fabrication had occurred.

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2024 are available here. Earlier opinions are available here.