Case Detail
| Case Title | BYERS v. UNITED STATES TAX COURT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| District | District of Columbia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City | Washington, DC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Case Number | 1:2015cv01605 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date Filed | 2015-09-29 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date Closed | 2016-10-26 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Judge | Judge Rudolph Contreras | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Plaintiff | RONALD E. BYERS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Case Description | Ronald Byers submitted a FOIA request to the U.S. Tax Court for 24 categories of records. The Tax Court responded that it was not an agency subject to FOIA. Byers filed an appeal of the tax court's position. The tax court rejected Byers' appeal on the basis that it was not an agency subject to FOIA. Byers then filed suit. Complaint issues: Agency - Federal, Litigation - Vaughn index, Litigation - Recovery of Costs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Defendant | UNITED STATES TAX COURT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appeal | D.C. Circuit 16-5363 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Documents | Docket Complaint Complaint attachment 1 Opinion/Order [13] FOIA Project Annotation: Judge Rudolph Contreras has ruled that the U.S. Tax Court is not an agency for purposes of FOIA. Ronald Byers sent a FOIA request for records to the Tax Court, relying on the D.C. Circuit's decision in Kuretski v. Commissioner, 755 F.3d 929 (D.C. Cir. 2014), in which the court found the Tax Court was part of the executive branch for purposes of separation of powers. Byers argued that if the Tax Court was part of the executive branch, rather than the judicial branch, it must be an agency subject to FOIA. Byers relied primarily on Washington Legal Foundation v. U.S. Sentencing Commission, 17 F.3d 1446 (D.C. Cir. 1994), finding the Sentencing Commission qualified as part of the judicial branch. Finding little support in the Washington Legal Foundation decision, Contreras noted that "even if the court had decided that the term 'the courts of the United States' encompasses the entire Judicial Branch, it would not necessarily follow that the definition excludes any other entities outside of the Judicial Branch. The court did not address that issue, and it would seem strange if Washington Legal Foundation, which expanded the FOIA exemption beyond Article III courts alone, would be used in this case to limit the scope of the same exemption." Contreras rejected Byers' claim that Kuretski changed the definition of the Tax Court. He pointed out that "the Court is not convinced that the [APA'] definition [of an agency] is limited only to Article III courts. Thus, FOIA's exemption for courts should apply here as well. Second, the root of Mr. Byers' argumentâ€"that all Executive Branch entities are subject to FOIAâ€"is overbroad. Many parts of the Executive Branch, notably entities within the Office of the President, are exempt from FOIA." As a result of the Kuretki decision, Congress had passed a short piece of legislation confirming that the Tax Court was a court. Accepting its plain meaning, Contreras pointed out that "the Court finds that Congress's clarification that the Tax Court is 'not an agency' provides further support for the conclusion that the Tax Court should be considered a court, not an agency, for the purposes of FOIA."
Issues: Agency - Federal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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