Court opinions issued Sept. 19, 2017

Hall v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- ruling that; (1) DEA, ATF, and Criminal Division performed reasonable searches for records concerning plaintiff; (2) plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies with respect to request to Bureau of Prisons; and (3) Executive Office for United States Attorneys failed to indicate how agency responded to request re-directed to it from Criminal Division.

Murray v. Shulkin (D.D.C.) -- dismissing FOIA and Privacy Act case because: (1) Department of Veterans Affairs fully disclosed plaintiff's claim file; and (2) plaintiff failed to identify documents that agency allegedly falsified, and plaintiff failed to request amendment of such document prior to bringing lawsuit.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

Court opinions issued Sept. 18, 2017

Bloche v. DOD (D.D.C.) -- finding that Air Force properly relied on Exemption 5 to withhold certain (but not all) disputed records pertaining to federal government's use of interrogation tactics designed and implemented by medical professionals.

Wilson v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- concluding that Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives performed reasonable search for certain records pertaining to plaintiff's criminal case.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

FOIA News: Court opinions issued Sept. 15, 2017

McNeely v. U.S. Dep't of Energy (N.D. Cal.) -- finding that: (1) government conducted adequate search for records pertaining to plaintiff's childhood medical records and a study at Hanford nuclear site; (2) government properly withheld names of third parties pursuant to Exemption 6.

Gelb v. DHS (S.D.N.Y.) -- concluding that government performed adequate search for records concerning unclaimed funds and that it properly withheld the names of account holders pursuant to Exemptions 6 and 7(C).

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

Court opinions issued Sept. 13-14, 2017

Sept. 14, 2017

Sanchez-Alanis v. BOP (D.D.C.) -- finding that agency properly withheld certain records from plaintiff's inmate files pursuant to Exemptions 5, 6, 7(C), 7(E), and 7(F), and that agency's delayed releases of records did not preclude summary judgment. 

Sept. 13, 2017

Tuffly v. DHS (9th Cir.) -- affirming district court's decision that Exemption 7(C) protected disclosure of names of 149 non-citizens who were released in 2013 from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention pending final removal determinations.

Wadhwa v. Sec'y U.S. Dep't of Veterans Affairs (3rd Cir.) -- affirming district court's decision that: (1) agency properly withheld records pertaining to complaints of employment discrimination pursuant to Exemptions 5 and 6, and (2) agency properly refused to confirm or deny existence of disciplinary records of named agency employees.

Carter v. USDA (W.D. Ark.) -- determining that Food and Nutrition Service performed reasonable search for records concerning institutions disqualified from food program between 1995 and 2001.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

Court opinions issued Sept. 11-12, 2017

Sept. 12, 2017

Gahagan v. U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Servs. (E.D. La.) -- holding that pro se attorney was ineligible for attorney's fees -- overruling magistrate judge's report and recommendation -- in light of U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Kay v. Ehrler, 499 U.S. 432, 438 (1991), but granting award for plaintiff's costs.   

Sept. 11, 2017

Climate Investigations Ctr. v. U.S. Dep't of Energy (D.D.C.) -- finding that: (1) agency failed to show that it adequately searched for records pertaining to "a power plant in Mississippi that uses 'clean coal' technology; (2) agency failed to show that its withholdings under deliberative process privilege were "predecisional" or that it properly relied upon attorney-client privilege; and (3) dispute about agency's Exemption 6 withholdings was moot because plaintiff possessed requested information via SEC filings.  

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

Court opinions issued Sept. 7 & Sept. 8, 2017

Sept. 8, 2017

Jackson v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- ruling that Criminal Division conducted adequate search for wiretap records pertaining to plaintiff's criminal case and that agency properly withheld records pursuant to Exemption 3 (oddly citing Privacy Act, which is not an Exemption 3 statute, instead of Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act).

Burke v. DHS (D.D.C.) -- finding that U.S. Secret Service performed reasonable search for certain records pertaining to plaintiff's criminal case.

Sept. 7, 2017

McPhail v. FBI (W.D. Pa.) -- holding that FBI was precluded from using Glomar response concerning plaintiff's co-defendant because Securities and Exchange Commission had officially acknowledged existence of investigation and FBI's participation in that investigation.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

Court opinions issued Sept. 6, 2017

Beagles v. Watkins (D.N.M) -- ruling that plaintiff improperly named individual employee as defendant and that plaintiff exhausted administrative remedies because agency failed to make determination on appeal for two years. 

King & Spalding v. HHS (D.D.C.) -- finding that government could not withhold information provided by confidential source pursuant to Exemptions 7(C) and/or 7(D) unless it explained whether source was an entity or individual. 

Judicial Watch. v. U.S. Dep't of State (D.D.C.) -- concluding that: (1) FBI properly relied on Exemption 7(E) to withheld surveillance videos concerning Anwar Aulaqi, an American-born Muslim cleric killed in Yemen by drone strike; and (2)  State Department failed to provide certain details necessary to evaluate adequacy of searches conducted in six of nine offices or record systems.   

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

Court opinions issued Sept. 1, 2017

Wisdom v. U.S. Trustee Prog. (D.D.C.) -- deciding that agency performed reasonable search for records concerning plaintiff's bankruptcy case and that it properly withheld certain records pursuant to Exemptions 5 and 6. 

Bayala v. DHS (D.D.C.) -- determining that agency performed a reasonable search for records concerning his asylum application and that it properly relied on Exemption 5 to withhold certain information, but not the first eight paragraphs,  from an "Assessment to Refer" document.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

Court opinions issued Aug. 31, 2017

Davidson v. U.S. Dep't of State (D.D.C.) -- concluding that agency performed adequate search for records concerning company's request for commercial assistance with Libyan government, and that agency properly withheld certain information pursuant to Exemptions 5 and 6.

Gatson v. FBI (D.N.J.) -- finding that: (1)  agency conducted reasonable search for records concerning plaintiff and third parties, and that agency properly withheld certain information pursuant to Exemption 3, 5, 6, 7(A), 7(C), 7(D), and 7(E).

Pinson v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- ruling that: (1) Executive Office for United States Attorneys failed to sufficiently describe its search with respect to one of plaintiff's five requests, and (2) case docket entry referencing protective order was insufficient to to prove that agency's search for public discovery materials would be futile.   

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

Court opinions issued Aug. 29, 2017

Whitson v. U.S. Forest Serv. (D. Colo.) -- determining, upon motion for reconsideration, that agency performs law enforcement functions and therefore is entitled to invoke Exemptions 7(C) and 7(E) in case involving investigation of personnel misconduct.

Pubien v. DOJ  (D.D.C.) -- concluding that Office of Professional Responsibility performed a reasonable search for records pertaining to plaintiff's complaints about an Assistant United States Attorney and that agency properly withheld certain information pursuant to Exemption 6.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.