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Case TitlePUBLIC CITIZEN, INC. v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
DistrictDistrict of Columbia
CityWashington, DC
Case Number1:2018cv00691
Date Filed2018-03-28
Date Closed2019-06-28
JudgeJudge Trevor N. McFadden
PlaintiffPUBLIC CITIZEN, INC.
Case DescriptionPublic Citizen submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Education for records concerning the agency's TEACH Grant program, which provides grants up to $4,000 a year for teachers pursuing higher education to work as teachers. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency provided an interim response consisting of 1,026 unredacted pages described as TEACH Grant documents. After Public Citizen inquired about its response, the agency told Public Citizen that the disclosure was actually meant to be its final response rather than an interim response. Public Citizen filed an administrative appeal, arguing that the search was inadequate. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Public Citizen filed suit.
Complaint issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy - Search, Litigation - Attorney's fees

DefendantUNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Documents
Docket
Complaint
Complaint attachment 1
Complaint attachment 2
User-contributed Documents
 
Docket Events (Hide)
Date FiledDoc #Docket Text

2018-03-281COMPLAINT against UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ( Filing fee $ 400 receipt number 0090-5392676) filed by PUBLIC CITIZEN, INC..(Murray, Julie) (Additional attachment(s) added on 3/29/2018: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Summons) (zsth). (Entered: 03/28/2018)
2018-03-28Case Assigned to Judge Trevor N. McFadden. (zsth) (Entered: 03/29/2018)
2018-03-292SUMMONS (3) Issued Electronically as to UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General (Attachments: # 1 Notice and Consent)(zsth) (Entered: 03/29/2018)
2018-03-293LCvR 7.1 CERTIFICATE OF DISCLOSURE of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interests by PUBLIC CITIZEN, INC. (Murray, Julie) (Entered: 03/29/2018)
2018-03-304STANDING ORDER Establishing Procedures for Cases Before Judge Trevor N. McFadden. The parties are hereby ORDERED to read and comply with the directives in the attached standing order. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 3/30/18. (lctnm1) (Entered: 03/30/2018)
2018-04-025RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed as to the United States Attorney. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney on 4/2/2018. Answer due for ALL FEDERAL DEFENDANTS by 5/2/2018. (Murray, Julie) (Entered: 04/02/2018)
2018-04-256RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed on United States Attorney General. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney General 04/06/2018. (Murray, Julie) (Entered: 04/25/2018)
2018-04-257RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION served on 4/5/2018 (Murray, Julie) (Entered: 04/25/2018)
2018-05-028NOTICE of Appearance by Daniel Patrick Schaefer on behalf of UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 05/02/2018)
2018-05-029ANSWER to Complaint by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.(Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 05/02/2018)
2018-05-03MINUTE ORDER. Before the Court are a complaint and an answer in this FOIA case. It is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall meet and confer and file a Joint Status Report proposing a schedule for proceeding in this matter. The schedule should address, among other things, the status of Plaintiff's FOIA request, the anticipated number of documents responsive to Plaintiff's FOIA request, the anticipated date(s) for release of the documents requested by Plaintiff, whether a motion for an Open America stay is likely in this case, whether a Vaughn index will be required in this case, and a briefing schedule for dispositive motions, if required. The parties shall file the schedule on or before May 24, 2018. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 5/3/2018. (lctnm1) (Entered: 05/03/2018)
2018-05-0310NOTICE of Appearance by Patrick D. Llewellyn on behalf of PUBLIC CITIZEN, INC. (Llewellyn, Patrick) (Entered: 05/03/2018)
2018-05-03Set/Reset Deadlines: Parties shall meet and confer and file a Joint Status Report by 5/24/2018. (hmc) (Entered: 05/03/2018)
2018-05-2411Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 05/24/2018)
2018-05-24MINUTE ORDER: In light of the parties' 11 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall file a further Joint Status Report with a proposed schedule for any further proceedings by June 21, 2018. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 5/24/18. (lctnm1) (Entered: 05/24/2018)
2018-05-25Set/Reset Deadlines: A further Joint Status Report due by 6/21/2018. (hmc) (Entered: 05/25/2018)
2018-06-2112Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 06/21/2018)
2018-06-22MINUTE ORDER: Upon consideration of the parties' 12 Joint Status Report, the Department of Education is ORDERED to complete its review and make a final response and release of records by July 20, 2018. The parties shall file a Joint Status Report with a proposed schedule for any further proceedings they think necessary by July 30, 2018. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 6/22/18. (lctnm1) (Entered: 06/22/2018)
2018-06-22Set/Reset Deadlines: Department of Education's final response and release of records due by 7/20/2018. Joint Status Report due by 7/30/2018. (hmc) (Entered: 06/22/2018)
2018-07-3013Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 07/30/2018)
2018-07-31MINUTE ORDER: Upon consideration of the parties' 13 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall file a Joint Status Report with a proposed schedule for any further proceedings they think necessary by August 29, 2018. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 7/31/18. (lctnm1) (Entered: 07/31/2018)
2018-07-31Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 8/29/2018. (hmc) (Entered: 07/31/2018)
2018-08-2914Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 08/29/2018)
2018-08-30MINUTE ORDER: Upon consideration of the parties' 14 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall file a further Joint Status Report with a proposed schedule for any further proceedings they think necessary by September 27, 2018. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 8/30/18. (lctnm1) (Entered: 08/30/2018)
2018-08-31Set/Reset Deadlines: A further Joint Status Report is due by 9/27/2018. (hmc) (Entered: 08/31/2018)
2018-09-2715Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 09/27/2018)
2018-09-27MINUTE ORDER: Upon consideration of the parties' 15 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall file a further Joint Status Report with a proposed schedule for any further proceedings they think necessary by October 30, 2018. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 9/27/18. (lctnm1) (Entered: 09/27/2018)
2018-09-27Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 10/30/2018. (hmc) (Entered: 09/27/2018)
2018-10-3016Joint STATUS REPORT by PUBLIC CITIZEN, INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Murray, Julie) (Entered: 10/30/2018)
2018-10-31MINUTE ORDER: Upon consideration of the parties' 16 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall file a further Joint Status Report with a proposed schedule for any further proceedings that they think necessary by November 29, 2018. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 10/31/18. (lctnm1) (Entered: 10/31/2018)
2018-10-31Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 11/29/2018. (hmc) (Entered: 10/31/2018)
2018-11-2917Joint STATUS REPORT by PUBLIC CITIZEN, INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Pl.'s August 22 Letter, # 2 Exhibit Pl.'s November 28 Chart)(Murray, Julie) (Entered: 11/29/2018)
2018-12-03MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of 17 Status Report, the parties are hereby ORDERED to appear for a Status Conference on January 4, 2019 at 10 a.m. in Courtroom 2 before Judge Trevor McFadden. The parties are also ORDERED to submit a joint status report on or before January 2, 2019. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 12/3/18. (lctnm1 (Entered: 12/03/2018)
2018-12-03Set/Reset Deadlines/Hearings: Joint Status Report due by 1/2/2019. Status Conference set for 1/4/2019 at 10:00 AM in Courtroom 2 before Judge Trevor N. McFadden. (hmc) (Entered: 12/03/2018)
2018-12-1318NOTICE OF WITHDRAWAL OF APPEARANCE as to PUBLIC CITIZEN, INC.. Attorney Julie A. Murray terminated. (Murray, Julie) (Entered: 12/13/2018)
2018-12-2119Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 12/21/2018)
2018-12-2120Joint MOTION to Vacate Status Conference by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 12/21/2018)
2018-12-21MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of 19 Joint Status Report, the Status Conference is continued to February 4, 2019 at 10 a.m. in Courtroom 2 before Judge Trevor McFadden. The parties are also ORDERED to submit a joint status report on or before January 22, 2019. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 12/21/18. (Entered: 12/21/2018)
2018-12-26Set/Reset Deadlines/Hearings: Joint Status Report due by 1/22/2019. Status Conference continued to 2/4/2019 at 10:00 AM in Courtroom 2 before Judge Trevor N. McFadden. (hmc) (Entered: 12/26/2018)
2019-01-08NOTICE OF RESCHEDULED HEARING: The parties shall take notice that the Status Conference set for 2/4/2019, that was originally set to begin at 10:00 AM is rescheduled for 11:00 AM in Courtroom 2 before Judge Trevor N. McFadden. (hmc) (Entered: 01/08/2019)
2019-01-2221STATUS REPORT by PUBLIC CITIZEN, INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Llewellyn, Patrick) (Entered: 01/22/2019)
2019-01-28MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of 21 Joint Status Report and the restoration of funding, parties are hereby ORDERED to file a status report on or before February 1, 2019. The status conference will be held on February 4, 2019 at 11:00 AM in Courtroom 2 before Judge Trevor N. McFadden. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 1/28/19. (lctnm1) (Entered: 01/28/2019)
2019-01-28Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 2/1/2019. (hmc) (Entered: 01/28/2019)
2019-01-3122Joint STATUS REPORT by PUBLIC CITIZEN, INC.. (Llewellyn, Patrick) (Entered: 01/31/2019)
2019-02-01MINUTE ORDER: Upon consideration of the parties' 22 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall file a further Joint Status Report with a proposed schedule for any further proceedings that they think necessary by March 1, 2019. The status conference set for February 4, 2019 is VACATED. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 2/1/19. (lctnm1) (Entered: 02/01/2019)
2019-02-01Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 3/1/2019. (hmc) (Entered: 02/01/2019)
2019-03-0123Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 03/01/2019)
2019-03-01MINUTE ORDER: Upon consideration of the parties' 23 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall file a further Joint Status Report on or before April 1, 2019. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 3/1/19. (lctnm1) (Entered: 03/01/2019)
2019-03-04Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 4/1/2019. (hmc) (Entered: 03/04/2019)
2019-04-0124Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 04/01/2019)
2019-04-02MINUTE ORDER: Upon consideration of the parties' 24 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall file a further Joint Status Report on or before April 23, 2019. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 4/2/19. (lctnm1) (Entered: 04/02/2019)
2019-04-02Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 4/23/2019. (hmc) (Entered: 04/02/2019)
2019-04-2325Joint STATUS REPORT by PUBLIC CITIZEN, INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Llewellyn, Patrick) (Entered: 04/23/2019)
2019-04-24MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of 25 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the Defendant shall make a final response and final production of responsive records on or before May 2, 2019. It is further ORDERED that the parties shall submit a joint status report on or before May 30, 2019. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 4/24/19. (lctnm1) (Entered: 04/24/2019)
2019-04-24Set/Reset Deadlines: Defendant's final response and final production due by 5/2/2019. Joint Status Report due by 5/30/2019. (hmc) (Entered: 04/24/2019)
2019-05-3026Joint STATUS REPORT by PUBLIC CITIZEN, INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Llewellyn, Patrick) (Entered: 05/30/2019)
2019-05-31MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of 26 Joint Status Report, the parties are ORDERED to file a further joint status report on or before June 28, 2019. If the parties reach a settlement before June 28, 2019, then they shall promptly inform the Court. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 5/31/19. (lctnm1) (Entered: 05/31/2019)
2019-05-31Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 6/28/2019. (hmc) (Entered: 05/31/2019)
2019-06-2827STIPULATION of Dismissal (Joint) by PUBLIC CITIZEN, INC.. (Llewellyn, Patrick) (Entered: 06/28/2019)
2019-06-28MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 27 Joint Stipulation of Dismissal, this matter is DISMISSED with prejudice per the terms of the stipulation. The Clerk of Court is directed to close the case. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 6/28/19. (lctnm1) (Entered: 06/28/2019)
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