Case Detail

FOIA Project Annotation: A federal court in Illinois has ruled that the State Department conducted an adequate search for records requested by Northwestern professor Jacqueline Stevens pertaining to its handling of Mark Lyttle's deportation case, except for the search conducted at the U.S. Embassy in Honduras. Because she was interested in learning about Lyttle's case, Stevens requested information about him. State refused to search for Lyttle's records without authorization, which Stevens supplied shortly after she had filed suit. State searched is Central Foreign Policy Records, the Office of the Legal Advisor, the Bureau of Consular Affairs, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and the U.S. Embassy in Honduras. The entire search yielded 48 documents which were disclosed to Stevens with redactions. Stevens only challenged the agency's search at the U.S. Embassy in Honduras, arguing the database search conducted there did not include Lyttle's name as a search term. The court observed that "in this case, as plaintiff points out, when defendant searched three databases and a shared drive at the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, it failed to search for what the Court considers to be the most obvious search term, 'Lyttle,' the third party's surname. The State Department offers no explanation for why it failed to search for that term. . .[T]he State Department searched for the term 'Lyttle' in other databases in other locations. The very fact that defendant used 'Lyttle' as a search term in other databases shows that it is a term reasonably calculated to uncover relevant documents." Stevens also claimed the Embassy's search was inadequate because it had not searched the email records of Wendy Clemens and another unknown individual who apparently had worked on Lyttle's case. The State Department told the court that neither individual was at the Embassy any longer when the search was conducted and that "it has a policy that both prevents employees from taking documents with them when they leave and requires employees to provide all documents to their successors. Thus, the searches the State Department actually performed in Honduras would have found the documents Wendy Clemens and the unnamed investigator left behind." The court indicated that while Stevens had prevailed in part it could not say she had substantially prevailed since the court found only a small portion of the agency's search was inadequate. As a result, the court concluded both parties should bear their own costs.
Issues: Adequacy - Search

Date Filed	Doc #	Docket Text
2013-07-18	1	COMPLAINT filed by Jacqueline Stevens (Exhibits) (mb, ) (Entered: 07/19/2013)
2013-07-18	2	CIVIL Cover Sheet. (mb, ) (Entered: 07/19/2013)
2013-07-18	3	PRO SE Appearance by Plaintiff Jacqueline Stevens (mb, ) (Entered: 07/19/2013)
2013-07-18	5	SUMMONS Issued as to United States of Department of State, U.S. Attorney, and U.S. Attorney General. (mb, ) (Entered: 07/19/2013)
2013-08-07	6	DESIGNATION of Abigail Lynn Peluso as U.S. Attorney for Defendant United States of Department of State (Peluso, Abigail) (Entered: 08/07/2013)
2013-08-27	7	ANSWER to Complaint by United States of Department of State(Peluso, Abigail) (Entered: 08/27/2013)
2013-08-30	8	MINUTE entry before Honorable George M. Marovich: Status hearing set for 9/24/2013 at 11:00 AM. All parties shall comply with Judge Marovich's requirements for the initial appearance as outlined in Judge Marovich's case management procedures located at: www.ilnd.uscourts.gov. The parties shall deliver a copy of the initial status report to the Courtroom Deputy (Room 2244A) by 9/16/2013.Mailed notice (clw, ) (Entered: 08/30/2013)
2013-09-17	9	MINUTE entry before Honorable George M. Marovich: Status hearing reset to 10/8/2013 at 11:00 AM.Mailed notice (clw, ) (Entered: 09/17/2013)
2013-09-30	10	ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiff Jacqueline Stevens by Robert Andrew Free (Free, Robert) (Entered: 09/30/2013)
2013-09-30	11	STATUS Report by Jacqueline Stevens (Free, Robert) (Entered: 09/30/2013)
2013-09-30	12	SUMMONS Returned Executed by plaintiff Jacqueline Stevens as to United States of Department of State served on 8/19/2013, answer due 10/18/2013. (mjc, ) (Entered: 10/02/2013)
2013-09-30	15	SUMMONS Returned Executed by Jacqueline Stevens as to United States of Department of State served on 7/29/2013, answer due 9/27/2013. (mjc, ) (Entered: 10/09/2013)
2013-09-30	16	SUMMONS Returned Executed by Jacqueline Stevens as to Gary S. Shapiro, U.S. Attorney's Office served on 7/29/2013, answer due 9/27/2013. (mjc, ) (Entered: 10/09/2013)
2013-10-07	13	GENERAL ORDER 13-0018 dated 10/7/13: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, effective October 1, 2013, that all civil litigation involving as a party the United States of America, is immediately suspended, postponed and held in abeyance continuing for a period of fourteen (14) days from the date of entry of this General Order (For Further Details See Attached Order). "Signed by Chief Judge Castillo."Mailed notice(mjc, ) (Entered: 10/08/2013)
2013-10-08	14	MINUTE entry before Honorable George M. Marovich: Status hearing reset to 12/23/2013 at 11:00 AM.Mailed notice (clw, ) (Entered: 10/08/2013)
2013-10-17	17	GENERAL ORDER 13-0019 dated 10/17/13: IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED, that the stay entered by General Order 13-0018 is hereby lifted, and any and all deadlines in the affected civil litigation (whether established by order, rule, or agreement), including but not limited to any scheduled discovery and pleading dates, are extended by 28 days. The Court warns litigants that this General Order does not purport to affect rights to or deadlines concerning appeal from any decision of this Court. Any litigant affected by this General Order may see relief from the order by motion. Trial dates in the affected cases will stand, although they may need to be adjusted in individual cases to account for the extension of other dates. The Court may, in any particular case, vary the effect or operation of this General Order by a separate ruling. (For Further Details See Attached Order). "Signed by Chief Judge Castillo." Mailed notice(mjc, ) (Entered: 10/18/2013)
2013-12-23	18	MINUTE entry before the Honorable George M. Marovich:Status hearing held on 12/23/2013. Status hearing set for 2/4/2014 at 11:00 AM.Mailed notice (clw, ) (Entered: 12/23/2013)
2014-01-15	19	MINUTE entry before the Honorable George M. Marovich: Status hearing reset to Monday, 2/3/2014 at 11:00 AM.Mailed notice (clw, ) (Entered: 01/15/2014)
2014-02-03	20	MINUTE entry before the Honorable George M. Marovich:Status hearing held on 2/3/2014. Status hearing set for 4/7/2014 at 11:00 AM.Mailed notice (clw, ) (Entered: 02/03/2014)
2014-04-07	21	MINUTE entry before the Honorable George M. Marovich: Status hearing reset to 5/5/2014 at 11:00 AM.Mailed notice (clw, ) (Entered: 04/07/2014)
2014-05-05	22	MINUTE entry before the Honorable George M. Marovich:Status hearing held on 5/5/2014. Status hearing set for 7/28/2014 at 11:00 AM.Mailed notice (clw, ) (Entered: 05/05/2014)
2014-07-28	23	MINUTE entry before the Honorable George M. Marovich:Status hearing held on 7/28/2014. Defendant's motion for summary judgment due by 9/2/2014 response/cross-motion for summary judgment due by 9/30/2014; reply/response to cross-motion due by 11/4/2014; rule by mail.Mailed notice (clw, ) (Entered: 07/28/2014)
2014-09-02	24	MOTION by Defendant United States of Department of State for summary judgment (Peluso, Abigail) (Entered: 09/02/2014)
2014-09-02	25	RULE 56.1 Statement by United States of Department of State regarding motion for summary judgment 24 (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit)(Peluso, Abigail) (Entered: 09/02/2014)
2014-09-02	26	MEMORANDUM by United States of Department of State in support of motion for summary judgment 24 (Peluso, Abigail) (Entered: 09/02/2014)
2014-09-30	27	MOTION by Plaintiff Jacqueline Stevens for summary judgment (Partial) (Free, Robert) (Entered: 09/30/2014)
2014-09-30	28	Rule 56.1 STATEMENT by Jacqueline Stevens (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A - Stevens Decl.)(Free, Robert) (Entered: 09/30/2014)
2014-09-30	29	MEMORANDUM by Jacqueline Stevens in support of motion for summary judgment 27 and in Opposition to Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Free, Robert) (Entered: 09/30/2014)
2014-09-30	30	RESPONSE by Plaintiff Jacqueline Stevens to Rule 56 statement 25 (Free, Robert) (Entered: 09/30/2014)
2014-11-04	31	RESPONSE by United States of Department of State to MOTION by Plaintiff Jacqueline Stevens for summary judgment (Partial) 27 (Peluso, Abigail) (Entered: 11/04/2014)
2014-11-04	32	RESPONSE by Defendant United States of Department of State to statement 28 (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A)(Peluso, Abigail) (Entered: 11/04/2014)
2015-04-14	33	MEMORANDUM Opinion and Order; The Court grants in part and denies in part defendant's motion for summary judgment 24 . The Court grants in part and denies in part plaintiff's motion for summary judgment 27 . Judgment is entered ordering defendant State Department to search the ACS+ electronic database, the Consular Sections shared drive, the Non-Immigrant Visa electronic database and the electronic case assessment service database at the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras for the term Lyttle. The State Department is granted 35 days to provide plaintiff either: (a) responsive documents and, if appropriate, a Vaughn index; or (b) a letter stating that no responsive documents were found. Signed by the Honorable George M. Marovich on 4/14/2015:Mailed notice(clw, ) (Entered: 04/14/2015)
2015-04-14	34	ENTERED JUDGMENT. Mailed notice(clw, ) (Entered: 04/14/2015)
Hide Docket Events