36 new FOIA court documents, plus case descriptions

We have added 36 documents from 8 FOIA cases filed between May 18, 2014 and May 24, 2014. Note that there can be delays between the date a case is filed and when it shows up on PACER. If there are filings from this period that have yet to be posted on PACER, this FOIA Project list may not be complete.

Click on a case title below to view details for that case, including links to the associated docket and complaint documents.

1. National Consumer Law Center v. United States Department of Education (filed May 19, 2014)
   The National Consumer Law Center submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Education for records used to calculate Competitive Performance and Continuous Surveillance scores for private collection agencies for FY 2012. The Department withheld the vast majority of the responsive records under Exemption 4 (confidential business information). The Law Center filed an administrative appeal, but when the agency failed to respond to the appeal within the statutory time limit, the Law Center filed suit.
   Issues: improper withholding, disclosure of all records, attorney’s fees
2. Carter Fullerton & Hayes, LLC v. Federal Trade Commission (filed May 19, 2014)
   The law firm of Carter, Fullerton & Hayes submitted a detailed FOIA request to the Federal Trade Commission for records concerning alcoholic beverage regulations and particularly for emails sent to 33 employees of the Bureau of Economics pertaining to searches of their records in response to an earlier FOIA request from the law firm that resulted in litigation. The law firm complained that the agency had failed to provide records it had agreed to disclose as the result of the prior litigation and that its record production and invoicing was inadequate. After failing to resolve the issues, the law firm again filed suit.
   Issues: improper withholding, disclosure of all responsive records, prohibit agency from charging additional fees, require agency to provide adequate invoices in the future, compensatory damages of $4, 500, attorney’s fees
3. BAUER v. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY et al (filed May 20, 2014)
   Shane Bauer, an investigative journalist for Mother Jones, made requests to several offices at the Department of Homeland Security, as well as the FBI, the National Security Agency, the CIA, and the State Department for records pertaining to Michael Benham, a computer researcher who has been critical of NSA surveillance. Bauer provided a Privacy Act waiver signed by Benham for each request. He asked for expedited processing and a fee waiver. However, after the agencies failed to respond to his requests, Bauer filed suit.
   Issues: conduct adequate search, disclosure of all records on expedited basis without fees, attorney’s fees
4. The New York Times Company et al v. United States Department of Defense (filed May 20, 2014)
   New York Times reporter Charlie Savage made a FOIA request to the Southern Command of the Department of Defense for records concerning any legal advice received by Southern Command pertaining to its options for treating Guantanamo Bay detainees at another location if their medical condition required such an action. Savage also asked for expedited processing. Southern Command acknowledged receipt of the request but said it was unable to respond within the statutory time limit. The newspaper then filed suit.
   Issues: improper withholding, conduct adequate search, disclosure of records within 20 days of court order, attorney’s fees
5. HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES v. UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (filed May 21, 2014)
   The Humane Society submitted two requests to the EPA for Air Consent Agreements for 15 Animal Feeding Operations. The agency told the Humane Society that because of the number of records involved, it was invoking the unusual circumstances exception to extend its time for responding. After some discussion between the parties, the agency identified 10,000 potentially responsive pages. When the agency finally responded, it indicated it was withholding 43 records and 173 emails under Exemption 5 (privileges). The Humane Society filed an administrative appeal, arguing the agency had failed to account for more than 9,000 records initially identified as responsive. The agency granted the Humane Society’s challenge to the adequacy of the search, but upheld the invocation of Exemption 5. EPA then released a handful of more records. The Humane Society then filed another FOIA request for records concerning the agency’s processing and response to its previous two requests. The agency indicated it had located 2,000 potentially responsive documents and that it was again invoking the unusual circumstances exception to extend its time to respond to the request. Six months later, the agency provided an interim response containing 248 pages, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, the Humane Society filed suit.
   Issues: improper withholding, conduct adequate search, disclosure of all non-exempt records, attorney’s fees
6. Ibeagwa v. United States of America (Internal Revenue Service) (filed May 21, 2014)
   Christian Ibeagwa submitted FOIA requests to the IRS for various forms that were part of his tax returns. The agency initially indicated that it could not respond within the statutory time limit, but eventually did respond. However, Ibeagwa was apparently not satisfied with the documents he received and eventually filed suit.
   Issues: disclosure of records, costs, damages
7. American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties v. United States Department of Homeland Security et al (filed May 22, 2014)
   The ACLU of San Diego submitted a FOIA request to Customs and Border Patrol for a 2013 report prepared by the Police Executive Research Forum on the agency’s use of force policies and practices. The ACLU requested expedited processing, inclusion in the news media fee category, and a fee waiver. After the agency failed to acknowledge its request within the statutory time limit, the ACLU filed suit.
   Issues: conduct adequate search, grant expedited processing, grant inclusion in news media fee category, grant fee waiver, disclosure of responsive records, attorney’s fees
8. Ajamu v. United States Marshal Service et al (filed May 22, 2014)
   D’Uryyah Ajamu made a request to the U.S. Marshals Service for all records pertaining to his arrest and surveillance, including confirmation that he had sent three dozen roses to the U.S. District Court Judge. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Ajamu filed suit.
   Issues: disclosure of all records, contempt and sanctions against agency, referral of sanctions to Office of Special Counsel, costs