Hedrick v. FBI (D.D.C.) -- ruling that the FBI conducted an adequate search for records concerning plaintiff, including his prosecution for the child pornography offenses, and that the agency properly redacted information about third parties pursuant to Exemption 6 and 7(C).
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Heartland Alliance Nat'l Immigrant Justice Ctr. v. DHS (7th Cir. 2016) -- affirming district court's decision that Exemption 7(E) protected information relating to Tier III terrorist organizations, defined by the Immigration and Nationality Act in 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(B)(vi)(III).
Freedom Watch v. U.S. Dep't of State (D.D.C. 2016) -- denying plaintiff's Rule 60 motion after determining that the agency performed a reasonable search of documents located by the FBI from Hillary Clinton's personal email.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Worldnetdaily.com v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- concluding that the government properly relied upon Exemption 5 to withhold a memorandum that recommended no charges against the law enforcement officials involved in the fatal shooting of Miriam Carey at the U.S. Capitol in 2013.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Parker v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C) -- ruling that: (1) the government was permitted to file a Motion for Summary Judgment instead of an Answer; (2) the Office of Professional Responsibility properly relied on Exemption 7(C) to withhold records about an AUSA who had practiced law without a valid license; and (3) the government failed to submit an affidavit concerning the withholdings made by EOUSA on records referred to it by OPR.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
STS Energy Partners LP v. FERC (D.D.C) -- awarding attorney's fees to plaintiff despite its commercial interest in the records, because the public derived a benefit from disclosure and the agency did not have a reasonable basis for withholding the records that it initially refused to disclose.
Elec. Privacy Info. Ctr. v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- denying plaintiff's motion for attorney's fees after finding that plaintiff's lawsuit was not the catalyst for the Criminal Division's release of records.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Kaye v. USCIS (D.D.C.) -- granting government's unopposed summary judgment motion with respect to 85 pages of immigration records released in full or in part after plaintiff filed his lawsuit.
Judicial Watch v. NARA (D.D.C.) -- ruling that the National Archives and Records Administration properly withheld an independent counsel's draft indictments of Hillary Clinton pursuant to Exemption 7(C) and Exemption 3, in conjunction with Rule 6(e) of Federal Criminal Procedure.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Cameranesi v. DOD (9th Cir.) -- determining that the names of foreign students at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation are protected by Exemption 6, reversing the decision of U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California.
Byers v. U.S. Tax Court (D.D.C.) -- holding that the United States Tax Court is exempt from FOIA because it is a court, not an agency.
Carter v. USDA (W.D. Ark.) -- finding that plaintiff exhausted his administrative remedies with respect to one of three requests and referring matter back to U.S. Magistrate Judge for further proceedings.
Landmark Legal Foundation v. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- ruling that plaintiff's request for records "evincing the use of" personal email accounts and other electronic communication and social media platforms to conduct government business was overly burdensome and not reasonably described; further dismissing plaintiff's claim concerning agency use of alias emails, because plaintiff failed to appeal the agency's initial response.
Pub. Emps. for Envtl. Responsibility v. EPA (D.D.C.) -- concluding that the agency properly withheld four documents pursuant to the attorney-client privilege and one document under Exemption 6, and that the agency failed to carry its burden with respect to its remaining Exemption 5 withholdings.
Pub. Emps. for Envtl. Responsibility v. EPA Office of the Inspector Gen. (D.D.C.) -- deciding that the EPA properly relied upon the attorney-client privilege to withhold memoranda, including factual findings, written by agency investigators to agency lawyers in order to secure legal advice regarding the criminal liability of an outside party.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Judicial Watch v. DHS (D.D.C.) -- dismissing as moot plaintiff's claim that DHS improperly withheld records responsive to 19 requests, because the parties jointly represented that all non-exempt responsive records had been produced; further ruling that plaintiff failed to establish that DHS had a "policy and practice" of failing to abide by FOIA response deadlines.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Burwell v. Exec. Office for U.S. Attorneys (D.D.C.) -- concluding that agency performed a reasonable search for grand jury records pertaining to plaintiff's criminal case and that it properly withheld the names of third parties pursuant to Exemption 7(C).
Hall & Assocs. v. EPA (D.D.C.) -- denying plaintiff's motion for reconsideration with respect to adequacy of EPA's search because plaintiff "received the documents it originally sought, does not seek additional documents or searches, already stipulated to the adequacy of both of EPA's searches, and articulates no extraordinary or manifest injustice;" further denying plaintiff's motion for attorney fees after finding that the delayed production of documents was due to plaintiff's "intransigence."
Am. Civil Liberties Union v. DOJ (S.D.N.Y.) -- ruling that: (1) DOJ conducted reasonable searches for certain policy records on warrantless surveillance; (2) with one exception, the National Security Division properly withheld records under the attorney work product privilege; and (3) the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys would be granted a further opportunity to justify its withholdings under the attorney work product privilege.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Immigrant Def. Project v. DHS (S.D.N.Y.) -- ruling that the government failed to perform an adequate search because: (1) the search terms employed were in the plural form only, not singular; (2) the agency did not search for all records "related to" certain press releases; and (3) the agency did not assist plaintiffs to narrow their original request.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.