Court opinions issued Aug. 28, 2017

Yagman v. Pompeo (9th Cir.) -- reversing district court's dismissal after concluding that plaintiff had requested records and not merely asked a question about CIA personnel or affiliates that engaged in torture.  Although the Circuit agreed with the agency that request was too vague, it remanded the case to the district court with instructions to allow plaintiff to reframe his request. 

Energy & Env't Legal Inst. v. U.S. Dep't of State (E.D. Va.) -- ruling that plaintiffs were precluded from filing separate summary judgment motions and that agency properly withheld disputed emails pertaining to environment pursuant to Exemptions 1, 5, and 6.  

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.  

Court opinions issued Aug. 25, 2017

First Amendment Coalition v. DOJ (9th Cir.) -- reversing district court's decision that plaintiff was ineligible for attorney fees in case pertaining to Anwar al-Awlaki, and remanding for determination as to whether plaintiff is entitled to fees. Notably, one panelist opined that fee eligibility ought not depend upon whether plaintiff's litigation was  "substantial causative effect" of disclosure of requested information.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.  

Court opinions issued Aug. 22 & Aug. 23, 2017

Aug. 23, 2017

Hetznecker v. Nat'l Sec. Agency (E.D. Pa.) -- ruling that: (1) FBI conducted adequate search for records concerning Occupy Philly movement and properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 6, 7(C), 7(D) and 7(E); and (2) NSA and CIA properly refused to confirm or deny existence of records pursuant to Exemption 1.  

Aug. 22, 2017

Davis v. U.S. Dep't of Veterans Affairs (D. Colo.) -- finding that agency performed a reasonable search for plaintiff claim file  (from which it produced more than 7500 pages without redactions), and that plaintiff was not entitled to discovery.

Dixon v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- concluding that FBI conducted reasonable search for various records concerning comparative bullet lead analysis and that it properly withheld third party information pursuant to Exemption 7(C).

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.  

Court opinions issued Aug. 21, 2017

Villar v. FBI (D.N.H.) -- concluding that pro se plaintiff failed to exhaust administrative remedies with respect to his request concerning third party, and that FBI failed to submit adequate information to permit review of records withheld concerning plaintiff.  

Demoruelle v. Dep't of Veterans' Affairs (D. Haw.) -- granting pro se plaintiff's claim for waiver of fees, which agency did not dispute in litigation, and granting litigation costs but not attorney's fees.  

Francis v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- finding that Executive Office for United States Attorneys performed a reasonable search for certain records concerning his prosecution for conspiring to kill a federal official.  

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.  

Court opinions issued Aug. 17-Aug. 18, 2017

Aug. 18, 2017

Carlson v. USPS (N.D. Cal.) -- determining that Postal Service improperly withheld names, titles and email addresses of certain agency employees pursuant to Exemptions 5 and 6.

Elec. Privacy Info. Ctr. v. IRS (D.D.C.) -- ruling that tax returns of President Trump were not subject to disclosure without his written consent, which plaintiff failed to submit.

Aug. 17, 2017

Bush v. USDA (N.D. Iowa) -- finding that agency conducted adequate search for records of soybean and corn yields within four townships in Iowa, and that any arguably responsive records were protected pursuant to Exemption 3 in conjunction with 7 U.S.C. § 1502(c)(1).

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.  

Court opinions issued Aug. 16, 2017

Parker v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- ruling that attachment to already-produced letter was responsive record even though it pertained to subject unrelated to request;  further ruling that Exemptions 5 and 7(C) protected portion of document addressing reasons for employee's discipline but not agency's disciplinary procedures or information in public domain.

Labow v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- finding that FBI properly withheld disputed records pursuant to Exemption 3 in conjunction with Pen Register Act and Rule 6(e) of Federal Rule Criminal Procedure.

Cornucopia Inst. v. Agric. Mktg. Serv. (D.D.C.) -- determining that agency conducted adequate search for certain investigatory records concerning organically-produced agricultural products and that it properly withheld records pursuant to Exemption5 and 7(C).

Legal Landmark Found. v. Dep't of Labor (D.D.C.) -- holding that plaintiff was precluded by collateral estoppel from bringing suit seeking records "evincing the use of" improper private electronic communications by certain agency employees, because same request to different agency was found by court to be inadequately described.  

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.  

Court opinions issued Aug. 14, 2017

Am. Civil Liberties Union of Ariz. v. DHS (D. Ariz.) -- finding that multiple agency components did not perform completely adequate searches for records concerning treatment of minors in Border Patrol custody, and that their declarations Vaughn Indices did not justify all withholdings pursuant to Exemptions 5, 6, 7(C), and 7(E).

Fund v. USDA (N.D. Cal.) -- dismissing plaintiff's FOIA and APA claims concerning agency's removal of certain Animal Plant Health Inspection Service inspection records from online reading room.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.  

Court opinions issued Aug. 7-Aug. 11, 2017

Aug. 11, 2017

Clemente v. FBI (D.C. Cir.) -- affirming district court's decision that FBI conducted a reasonable search for records concerning mob informant Gregory Scarpa and that disputed records met law enforcement enforcement threshold; further finding that court did not abuse discretion by denying interim attorney's fees or by dismissing case after plaintiff missed filing deadlines. 

Aug. 8, 2017

Judicial Watch v. U.S. Dep't of State (D.D.C.) -- concluding that agency's search for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's e-mails related to Benghazi attack was inadequate because agency neglected to search the "state.gov" accounts of aides Huma Abedin, Cheryl Mills, and Jacob Sullivan. 

Gahagan v. U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Servs. (E.D. La.) -- ruling that agency's supplemental declaration established that disputed records were properly withheld pursuant to Exemption 5. 

Burke v. DHS (D.D.C.) -- ruling that Transportation Security Agency performed an adequate search for travel records concerning plaintiff and his family.  

Aug. 7, 2017

McKinley v. FDIC (D.D.C.) -- deciding that agency failed to show that withheld records concerning Citibank were properly withheld under Exemptions 4, 5, or 8, and ordering agency to submit revised Vaughn Index and/or declarations.

Shapiro v. CIA (D.D.C.) -- finding that FBI properly withheld certain records regarding Nelson Mandela under deliberative process privilege, and that agency properly excluded certain pages as non-responsive because they neither mention Nelson Mandela nor put the relevant pages in context.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.  

Court opinions issued Aug. 4, 2017

Price v. U.S. Dep't of Justice Attorney Office (D.C. Cir.) -- ruling in 2-1 decision that plea agreement waiving criminal defendant's FOIA rights "offends public policy and is therefore unenforceable."

Aguiar v. DEA (D.C. Cir.) -- vacating district court's decision because DEA failed to show that requested GPS software was not an agency record and failed to show that it adequately searched for administrative subpoenas that existed at time plaintiff submitted his request. 

Jordan v. U.S. Dep't of Labor (D.D.C.) -- determining that agency properly relied upon Exemption 4 to withhold certain email between company and agency administrative law judge because, among other things. the records contained privileged attorney-client communications.

Sharkey v. FBI (N.D. Ohio) -- determining that FBI conducted reasonable searches for assorted records concerning plaintiff and that he failed to exhaust his administrative remedies with respect to one of his requests.  

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.  

Court opinions issued July 31, 2017 to August 3, 2017

Aug. 3, 2017

Argus Leader Media v. USDA (D.S.D.) -- awarding plaintiff attorney fees and costs despite undisputed finding that agency had a reasonable basis for withholding certain food stamp program records pursuant to Exemptions 3 and 4.  See related news article. 

Aug. 2, 2017

Hall v. CIA (D.D.C.) -- deciding that: (1) CIA failed to demonstrate that its search for records pertaining to POW/MIAs from the Vietnam War era was adequate in all respects; (2) CIA properly invoked Exemption 1, but that Vaughn Index was deficient with respect to three documents; (3) CIA properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 3 and 5, noting that sunset provision of deliberative process privilege did not apply to this case; (3) Exemption 6 did not protect certain names of non-CIA employees because of substantial public interest in POW/MIA matters.    

Eakin v. DOD (W.D. Tex.) -- concluding that request for electronic files related to missing and unidentified veterans from World War II was not unreasonably burdensome.  In reaching its decision, the court noted that it could think of "few other government programs more solemn and worthy of public scrutiny than those tasked with ensuring that Americans who gave the last full measure of devotion in service to their nation are identified, returned home to their families or communities, and buried with honors."  Due to the volume of material, the court permitted DOD to make semi-annual productions over next four years.

July 31, 2017

Rios v. United States (D.D.C.) -- ruling that plaintiff properly certified his identity to Drug Enforcement Administration with respect to request concerning himself, and that DEA had waived its exhaustion of remedies defense regarding plaintiff's request concerning a third party.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.