Court opinions issued Mar. 4, 7, & 9, 2016

March 9, 2016

Ladeairous v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- finding that it was reasonable for FBI to search for records concerning plaintiff by searching agency's main and cross-reference files by plaintiff's name and social security number.

Lowery v. Hart (E.D. Cal.) -- denying plaintiff's motion to set aside 1998 court decision concerning plaintiff's request for photographs of a experimental Piper Tomahawk aircraft, which plaintiff now alleges were deliberately hidden by an NTSB air safety investigator. 

Orlansky v. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- holding that Executive Office for United States.Attorneys properly invoked Exemption 5 to withhold records concerning the recusal of a U.S. Attorney from certain cases; further holding that EOUSA was not required to answer plaintiff's questions about why such recusal was necessary. 

March 7, 2016

Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Wash. v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- dismissing suit to compel DOJ to publish the legal opinions of the Office of Legal Counsel pursuant to section 552(a)(2) of FOIA, because plaintiff brought its suit under the Administrative Procedure Act instead of FOIA.   

Am. Ass'n of Women v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- ruling that the FBI properly withheld records pertaining to the subject matter of a Los Angeles Times article pursuant to Exemptions 1, 3 , 6, 7(A), 7(C), 7(D), and (7)(E).  The court further ruled that plaintiff failed to establish that the FBI had officially acknowledged or disclosed the requested records.

March 4, 2016

Competitive Enter. Inst. v. U.S. Envtl. Prot. Agency (D.D.C.) -- denying without prejudice EPA's motion for summary judgment because EPA failed to demonstrate that it timely responded to plaintiff's administrative appeal before plaintiff filed suit; ordering EPA to provide a technical and complete explanation of the technology used to process plaintiff's appeal, including an explanation of how EPA received plaintiff's appeal only four days after plaintiff emailed it.   

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinions March 2 & 3, 2016

March 3, 2016

Bartko v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.)

March 2, 2016

Rozema v. U.S. Dep't of Health & Human Servs. (N.D.N.Y.) -- finding that the FDA properly withheld certain information regarding the quantities of menthol contained in cigarettes pursuant to Exemption 3, in conjunction with 21 U.S.C. § 387f(c), as well as Exemption 4.  Notably, in reaching its Exemption 4 determination, the court expressly declined to adopt the Critical Mass test.

Schultz v. Fed. Bureau of Investigation (E.D. Cal.) -- determining that the FBI properly relied upon Exemptions 7(C) and 7(D) to protect records concerning two confidential informants involved in plaintiff's criminal case.

Garcia v. U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Servs. (D.D.C.) -- concluding that the USCIS adequately searched for records of an agency adjudication on plaintiff's application in 1981 for lawful-permanent-resident status.   

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinion issued Feb. 29, 2016

Navigators Ins. Co. v. Dep't of Justice (D. Conn.) -- concluding that a supplemental declaration filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut established that the agency conducted a reasonable search.  

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinions issued Fed. 24-25, 2016

Feb. 25, 2016

Pair v. Soc. Sec. Admin. (D. Md.) -- dismissing plaintiff's suit seeking records concerning a nine-digit alphanumeric code on the back of his Social Security card, because the agency averred that no responsive records existed.   According to SSA, the number is merely a control number used by the vendor who provides the cards to SSA to prevent fraud and counterfeiting; it has no public use.    

Henderson v. Office of the Dir. of Nat'l Intelligence (D.D.C.) -- holding that ODNI and the Office of Personnel Management properly relied upon Exemption 7(E) to redact certain information from their jointly issued "Federal Investigative Standards," which sets forth the standards for security and suitability background investigations of federal employees.

Feb. 24, 2016

Muchnick v. Dep't of Homeland Sec. (N.D. Cal.) -- finding that agency's Vaughn Index and declaration were not descriptive enough to justify withholding records concerning George Gibney, a former Olympic swim coach charged with sexual abuse.  

 Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinions issued Feb. 22-23, 2016

Feb, 23, 2016

Peeler v. Fed. Bureau of Investigation (D. Conn.) -- determining that the FBI conducted a reasonable search in response to prisoner's request for records associated with his personal pager number.

Feb. 22, 2016

Woods v. Elec. Surveillance Unit (D.D.C.) -- ruling that the Department of Justice's Criminal Division properly withheld electronic surveillance records from prisoner pursuant to Exemption 3, in conjunction with 18 U.S.C. §§ 2517 and 2518(8)(b), as well as Exemption 5 (deliberative process and attorney work product privileges).  

Lapp v. Fed. Bureau of Investigation (N.D.W.Va.) --   finding that the FBI properly withheld certain fingerprint-related information pursuant to Exemption 7(E) and that it conducted an adequate search. 

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinions issued Feb. 16-Feb. 17, 2016

Feb. 17, 2016

Elec. Privacy Info. Ctr. v. Custom & Border Protection (D.D.C.) -- denying agency's summary judgment motion with respect to records concerning the Analytical Framework for Intelligence system.  The court found that the agency's declaration was deficient because: (1) it provided only a categorical description of the material withheld, without providing any exhibits or page references to allow the court to assess the agency's withholdings; (2) it did not sufficiently describe the underlying law enforcement techniques and procedures that the agency seeks to protect.

Mitchell v. Samuels (D.D.C.) -- ruling that plaintiff failed to establish that the Federal Bureau of Prisons had received his FOIA request, which the agency averred was not reflected in its FOIA tracking database. In reaching its decision, the court held that plaintiff's production of a copy of his FOIA request and a USPS tracking number was not sufficient evidence to deny the government's motion for summary judgment. 

Feb. 16, 2016

Pinson v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- determining that the Office of Information Policy performed adequate searches in response to requests for various records from the Attorney General's office, but that it improperly withheld -- under Exemption 6 -- the name and identifying information of a third-party who submitted a letter of recommendation in support of Charles Samuels for the position of BOP Director.   

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinions issued Feb. 10-Feb. 12, 2016

Feb. 12, 2016

Judicial Watch v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.C. Cir.) -- holding that a court order concerning settlement discussions between U.S. House and DOJ with respect to "Fast and Furious" records was too ambiguous on its face to justify withholding requested records; remanding the case to district court for further proceedings, i.e., to clarify the meaning of the court order in question. 

Feb. 11, 2016

Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Wash. v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- ruling on remand from D.C. Circuit that plaintiff offered sufficient to support the court's use of "LSI-adjusted rates" in calculating award of attorneys' fees.

Feb. 10, 2016

Competitive Enter. Inst. v. Office of Sci. & Tech. Policy (D.D.C) -- finding that: (1) draft versions of agency's final response to plaintiff's Information Quality Act request were properly withheld under deliberative process privilege; (2) agency failed to demonstrate that its communications with a Rutgers University professor fell within the "consultant corollary" principle to the deliberative process privilege; and (3) deliberative process privilege did not protect email discussions of video in which an agency employee had expressed personal opinions.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinion issued Feb. 9, 2016

Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Wash. v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- concluding that the FBI conducted an adequate search for records pertaining to its use of drones and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and that the agency properly withheld information pursuant to Exemptions 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7(E).

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinion issued Feb. 8, 2016

Davis v. U.S. Dep't of the Air Force (D. Mont.) -- granting agency's unopposed motion for summary judgment in case in which agency withheld records of espionage investigation pursuant to Exemptions 1 and 7(E); declining to enter a finding that the agency's espionage investigation was "groundless."  

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinions issued Feb. 5, 2016

Conservation Force v. Jewell (D.D.C.) -- ruling that plaintiff was ineligible for attorneys' fees because it did not obtain court-ordered relief on the merits of its FOIA claims or receive relief from the agency that it would not have obtained but for the lawsuit.  In reaching its decision, the court held that ordering an agency to prepare a Vaughn Index does not constitute judicial relief.    

Bloomgarden v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- determining that the Executive Office for United States Attorneys properly relied on Exemption 6 (but not Exemption 7(C)) to withhold disciplinary records concerning the Assistant United States Attorney who had been removed from plaintiff's criminal case in 1995.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.