Court opinion issued February 14, 2017

Nat'l Sec. Counselors v. DOJ (D.C. Cir.) -- finding that (1) FBI's policy of saving a maximum of 500 pages on a CD did not result in a violation of FOIA's mandate that agencies recover only "reasonable standard charges; (2) FBI failed to provide sufficient facts to allow court to determine whether FBI's $15-per-CD fee policy exceeds direct costs; and (3) affirming district court's denial of plaintiffs' request for a public interest fee waiver, because plaintiffs "failed to provide sufficiently specific and non-conclusory statements demonstrating its ability to disseminate the disclosures to a 'reasonably broad audience of persons interested in the subject.'" 

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinion issued Feb. 8, 2017

Competitive Enter. Inst. v. EPA (D.D.C) -- ruling that:  (1)  plaintiff's lawsuit was not prematurely filed, because agency's deadline to respond to appeal started when agency received emailed appeal, not when employee opened email two business days later; (2) agency performed a reasonable search for requested records concerning text-messaging by agency's former Administrator; (3) agency properly withheld certain records pursuant to the deliberative process, attorney-client, and/or work-product privileges, including public relations documents.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinions issued Feb. 7, 2017

Judicial Watch v. DOD (D.C. Cir.) -- affirming district court's decision that a memo concerning the release of Bowe Bergdahl was protected by the deliberative process privilege; rejecting plaintiff's argument that the agency expressly adopted it as a source of guidance. 

Braun v. FBI (D. Mont.) -- finding that magistrate did not err in determining that agency properly withheld records concerning plaintiff pursuant to Exemptions 3, 6, 7(C), and 7(E).  

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinion issued Feb. 3, 2017

Buckovetz v. U.S. Dep't of the Navy (S.D. Cal.) -- concluding that Navy performed an adequate search for documents pertaining to sexual harassment complaint and properly withheld disputed page under Exemptions 6 and 7(C).

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinion issued Feb. 2, 2017

Judicial Watch v. U.S. Dep't of State (D.D.C.) -- finding that: (1) agency's search for records concerning former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Clinton Foundation was reasonable "in most respects," but unreasonably omitted emails of Huma Abedin; (2) agency failed to adequately address whether documents concerning then-Senator Clinton's Senate confirmation were protected under deliberative process privilege; (3) agency improperly withheld certain factual material concerning potential sources of conflict being deliberated upon by agency; (4) Exemption 6 protected private email addresses of individuals who were not yet affiliated with State Department, but not domain extensions of email addresses when release would not reveal the owner's full email address.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinion issued Feb. 1, 2017

Bettwieser v. Gans (D. Idaho) -- declining to dismiss plaintiff's suit against United States Postal Service even though agency averred that it never received request.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinions issued Jan. 31, 2017

Rad v. U.S. Attorney's Office (D.N.J.) -- denying requester's motion for in camera review and granting agency's motion for summary judgment because agency had properly applied Exemption 3, in conjunction with Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e); Exemption 6; and Exemptions 7(C), (D), and (E).

Bothwell v. Brennan (9th Cir.) -- affirming district court decision denying requester's motion for summary judgment on the grounds that he had failed to establish a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether the CIA had waived its application of Exemption 3 or failed to conduct an adequate search for responsive records.

Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Wash. v. DOJ (D.C. Cir.) -- affirming district court decision dismissing plaintiff's suit under the APA to compel DOJ Office of Legal Counsel to meet its disclosure obligations under the "reading room" provision of the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. sec. 552(a)(2). 

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinions issued Jan. 30, 2017

James Madison Project v. Dep't of State (D.D.C.) -- holding that: (1) agency failed to perform  adequate searches for records relating to Hillary Clinton's private attorney; and (2) agency properly relied on Exemption 7(C) to withhold identity of agency's information security chief.  

Davis v. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- summarily agreeing that five DOJ components had performed adequate searches and justified their withholdings, issues that plaintiff, a pro se inmate, did not dispute.   

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinion issued Jan. 27, 2017

Rocky Mountain Wild v. U.S. Forest Serv. (D. Colo.) -- ruling that certain records maintained by third-party contractor were not "agency records" because Forest Service lacked "control" over them. 

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinions issued Jan. 25-26, 2017

Jan. 26, 2017

Inclusive Cmtys. Project v. HUD (N.D. Tex.) -- finding that prevailing plaintiff could recover attorney fees for time spent to review records to determine whether agency's response was fully responsive to its request.

Fabricant v. Dep't of Justice (9th Cir.) (unpublished opinion) -- affirming district court's decision that agency conducted reasonable search for records concerning informant who testified against plaintiff, and finding that court did not abuse its discretion in denying plaintiff's motion for discovery and costs.  

Jan. 25, 2017

O'Neill v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (E.D. Wis.) -- concluding that United States Marshal's Service and FBI performed reasonable searches for 56-page courtroom security plan, along with documents related to murder plot, created in 2000 in connection with plaintiff's criminal case.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.