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Case TitleJUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE et al
DistrictDistrict of Columbia
CityWashington, DC
Case Number1:2017cv01012
Date Filed2017-05-26
Date Closed2018-02-16
JudgeJudge Amy Berman Jackson
PlaintiffJUDICIAL WATCH, INC.
Case DescriptionJudicial Watch submitted FOIA requests to the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development for records concerning funds provided to the Foundation Open Society-Albania. The agencies acknowledged receipt of the requests, but after hearing nothing further, Judicial Watch filed suit.
Complaint issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy - Search, Litigation - Vaughn index, Litigation - Attorney's fees

DefendantU.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DefendantU.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Documents
Docket
Complaint
Complaint attachment 1
Complaint attachment 2
Complaint attachment 3
Complaint attachment 4
Complaint attachment 5
User-contributed Documents
 
Docket Events (Hide)
Date FiledDoc #Docket Text

2017-05-261COMPLAINT against U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE ET AL. ( Filing fee $ 400 receipt number 0090-4967432) filed by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Summons U.S. Attorney, # 3 Summons U.S. Attorney General, # 4 Summons State Department, # 5 Summons USAID)(Peterson, James) (Entered: 05/26/2017)
2017-05-262LCvR 7.1 CERTIFICATE OF DISCLOSURE of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interests by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. (Peterson, James) (Entered: 05/26/2017)
2017-05-26Case Assigned to Judge Amy Berman Jackson. (sth) (Entered: 05/30/2017)
2017-05-303SUMMONS (4) Issued Electronically as to U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General (Attachments: # 1 Summons, # 2 Summons, # 3 Summons, # 4 Summons)(sth) (Entered: 05/30/2017)
2017-06-054RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed as to the United States Attorney. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney on 6/5/2017. ( Answer due for ALL FEDERAL DEFENDANTS by 7/5/2017.), RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed on United States Attorney General. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney General 6/5/2017., RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE served on 6/5/2017 (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Cristina Rotaru)(Peterson, James) (Entered: 06/05/2017)
2017-06-055RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed. U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT served on 6/5/2017; See docket entry no. 4 to view document.) (td) (Entered: 06/06/2017)
2017-07-066NOTICE of Appearance by Daniel Patrick Schaefer on behalf of All Defendants (Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 07/06/2017)
2017-07-067ANSWER to Complaint by U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE.(Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 07/06/2017)
2017-07-06MINUTE ORDER. Before the Court in this FOIA case are a complaint and an answer. The requirements of Local Civil Rule 16.3 and Rule 26(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure appear to be inapplicable. Defendants shall file a dispositive motion or, in the alternative, a report setting forth the schedule for the completion of their production of documents to plaintiff on or before August 7, 2017. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 7/6/2017. (lcabj3) (Entered: 07/06/2017)
2017-08-078STATUS REPORT and Proposed Schedule by U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 08/07/2017)
2017-08-089RESPONSE re 8 to Status Report and Proposed Schedule filed by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Peterson, James) Modified to add link on 8/9/2017 (znmw). (Entered: 08/08/2017)
2017-08-08MINUTE ORDER. The Court can take judicial notice of the volume of FOIA matters involving the State Department that are pending in this district and it acknowledges that there are significant demands on the agency's resources. But defendants have done little in their submission to quantify either the work already in the pipeline, the amount of time it takes to process any quantity of pages, or the number of employees available to do the work, so the Court cannot approve the extremely slow proposed schedule on this record. Therefore, defendants are ordered to process 400 pages per month and to file status reports on November 1, 2017, February 1, 2018, and when production is complete (or on April 15, 2018 if the Court has not already been informed that production is complete by that date). SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 8/8/2017. (lcabj3) (Entered: 08/08/2017)
2017-11-0110STATUS REPORT by U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 11/01/2017)
2017-11-02MINUTE ORDER. Parties shall file a joint status report by February 1, 2018. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 11/02/2017. (lcabj3) (Entered: 11/02/2017)
2018-02-0111Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Peterson, James) (Entered: 02/01/2018)
2018-02-01MINUTE ORDER. The parties shall file a joint status report by February 16, 2018, if the matter has not been dismissed by then. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 02/01/2018. (lcabj3) (Entered: 02/01/2018)
2018-02-1612STIPULATION of Dismissal by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Peterson, James) (Entered: 02/16/2018)
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