143 new FOIA court documents, plus case descriptions
We have added 143 documents from 22 FOIA cases filed between March 1, 2015 and March 14, 2015. 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.
- PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS, INC. v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (filed Mar 3, 2015)
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals submitted a FOIA request to the Centers for Disease Control for records required to be submitted to CDC by primate importers and transporters. PETA asked CDC for an estimated date of completion and the agency indicated that it would need to notify a number of importers/transporters for their comments as to the confidentiality of information and that it would take 32 months to process PETA’s request. After hearing nothing further from the agency concerning the predisclosure notification process, PETA filed suit.
Issues: Exemption 4 – Predisclosure notification, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Mar 4, 2015)
Judicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State for records concerning any communications between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or former Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin, and Nagla Mahmoud, the wife of ousted Egyptian president Muhammed Morsi, between January 2009 and January 2013. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index - v. Selby et al (filed Mar 3, 2015)
Ricky Shelby, a prisoner at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail, filed suit against Nurse Thomas, who Shelby alleged had improperly withheld his medical records. Shelby may have a cause of action under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, but not under the federal FOIA.
Issues: FOIA not mentioned - PIKE et al v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Mar 2, 2015)
Adam Pike and Bret Berry, owners/operators of Reliance Medical Systems, a manufacturer of implantable spinal devices, submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice for an audio recording of a July 26, 2011 conversation between Berry, Pike and an unidentified physician that was used by DOJ as part of its case against Berry and Pike for violations of the False Claims Act. DOJ refused to disclose the recording, denying access on the basis of Exemption 5 (privileges) and Exemption 7(A) (interference with ongoing investigation or proceeding). Berry and Pike appealed to OIP, which upheld the denial on the basis of Exemption 7(A). Berry and Pike then filed suit.
Issues: Exemption 7(A) – Interference with ongoing investigation, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Kozich v. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development et al (filed Mar 2, 2015)
Don Kozich submitted three requests for records to the Broward County Housing Authority concerning Progress Point. He alleged that BCHA received funds from both the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Kozich alleged that BCHA did not respond properly and he finally filed suit. While part of his complaint deals with access to records, most of his complaint is for damages.
Issues: FOIA mentioned only tangentially, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Village of Hobart v. U.S. Department of the Interior et al (filed Mar 2, 2015)
The Village of Hobart submitted a FOIA request to the Department of the Interior’s Division of Land Titles and Records for records showing title ownership of a number of trust lands located in the Village. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the Division, the Village sent another letter asking about the status of its request. After again hearing nothing further from the agency, the Village filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE v. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Mar 4, 2015)
The National Security Archive submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State in 2001 for former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s telephone conversations during his time as Secretary. Although some conversations have been released since NSA’s request, others have not been finalized for disclosure. NSA finally decided to file suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - WILDEARTH GUARDIANS v. OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AND ENFORCEMENT (filed Mar 4, 2015)
Wildlife Guardians submitted a FOIA request to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement for records concerning the agency’s decision to deny Wildlife Guardians’ rulemaking petition to promulgate regulations providing protection for greater sage grouse and its habitat from the effects of coal mining. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after it failed to respond, Wildlife Guardians filed an administrative appeal. The agency acknowledged receipt of the appeal, but told Wildlife Guardians that it would not be able to respond within the statutory time limit. Wildlife Guardians then filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - BAGWELL v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (filed Mar 4, 2015)
Ryan Bagwell, the operator of the Penn State Sunshine Fund, submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Education concerning Penn State’s compliance with the Clery Act and communications between the agency and the Freeh Group, which conducted the investigation of Jerry Sandusky. The agency indicated the request was voluminous and Bagwell asked for a fee waiver. The agency provided an interim response containing four pages, and a second interim response containing seven pages. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Bagwell filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index - Hopson v. The People of the Superior Court of California (filed Mar 5, 2015)
Shannon Hopson requested records from the clerk of the Superior Court for San Diego County concerning his criminal case. While Hopson has requested government records and cites FOIA as the basis for his claim, he is not requesting records from a federal agency and is rather requesting records from a California state court. This may provide a cause of action under the California Public Records Act, but it does not provide a cause of action under the federal FOIA.
Issues: FOIA not mentioned - Navigators Insurance Company et al v. Justice (filed Mar 5, 2015)
Navigators Insurance Company submitted a FOIA request to the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys for records pertaining to five named individuals associated with New England Cash Dispensing Systems and its affiliate, Integrated Merchants Systems who had been convicted of bank fraud. Navigators Insurance was being sued by a company trying to recover the proceeds of an insurance policy Navigators had issued to NECD and IMS. EOUSA told Navigators Insurance that any personally-identifying records were protected under Exemption 6 (invasion of privacy) and Exemption 7(C) (invasion of privacy concerning law enforcement records), but that the agency would disclose any public records if Navigator Insurance requested them. Navigators Insurance did not appeal the denial, but instead submitted a request for all non-exempt records concerning the five individuals. Navigators Insurance later submitted a second FOIA request for all records pertaining to the two corporate entities, NECD and IMS. The agency acknowledged receipt of both requests, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Navigators Insurance filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Litman v. US Department of Homeland Security et al (filed Mar 6, 2015)
Malia Litman, a retired attorney and current blogger on political issues, submitted seven FOIA requests to the Department of Homeland Security for records concerning various allegations and claims pertaining to the Secret Service. Although she appealed the agency’s actions on some of her requests, by the time she filed suit the agency had not disclosed any records.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Cletta v. United States Department of Veterans Affairs et al (filed Mar 9, 2015)
Catrina Cletta submitted a FOIA request through her attorney to the Department of Veterans Affairs for her claims file. Her request was emailed to the agency’s designated email address for such requests, but her request was returned as undeliverable. Cletta’s attorney contacted the VA and spoke to an employee who told her to send the request to his email address. Cletta’s attorney did so and sent another request to the designated email address as well, which, this time, was not returned as undeliverable. However, after hearing nothing further from the VA, Cletta filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Osvaldo Rosa v. United States of America (filed Mar 10, 2015)
Osvaldo Rosa, a federal prisoner, submitted a FOIA request to the Bureau of Prisons concerning transcripts for his email correspondence to several email accounts. The agency located 344 pages and told Rosa that he would need to pay $29. Rosa alleged that he paid the fee, but BOP contended it had not received payment. Rosa then filed suit.
Issues: Fees – Advance Payment, Litigation – Jurisdiction – Failure to Exhaust - ASSOCIATED PRESS v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Mar 11, 2015)
The Associated Press submitted six FOIA requests to the Department of State for various records concerning Hillary Clinton’s official actions while Secretary of State. Only one of the six requests has been responded to in part. In the aftermath of the acknowledgement that Clinton used a personal email server for her official and personal email while she was Secretary of State, AP filed suit to force the agency to process and disclose her emails.
Issues: Agency Record, Choice of format, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE v. UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (filed Mar 11, 2015)
The Competitive Enterprise Institute submitted a FOIA request to the EPA for emails sent to or from an alias email account in the name of Richard Windsor, which was apparently used by former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, to any other EPA employees in the Office of Administrator. The agency initially denied the request because it did not adequately describe the records sought. CEI filed an administrative appeal and the initial decision was overturned. EPA then denied CEI’s request for a fee waiver, which again was overturned on appeal. The EPA identified 120,000 records and indicated it would disclose them at a rate of 100 pages a month. CEI appealed the production schedule and the agency denied the appeal and indicated that it would accept no further appeals. CEI then appealed to OGIS, but after six months without a satisfactory resolution, CEI filed suit.
Issues: Delay - Gahagan v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (filed Mar 11, 2015)
Michael Gahagan, an immigration attorney, submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for Form I-485 for his client Lloyd Patterson, who is facing removal proceedings. The agency responded with 509 pages, 33 pages of which were referred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and 11 pages that were withheld entirely. According to Gahagan, none of the pages contained the Form I-485 he had requested. Gahagan filed an appeal challenging the adequacy of the agency’s search. The agency responded by partially disclosing another 10 pages. Again, none of them were the Form I-485 Gahagan requested. Gahagan then filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index - Microsoft Corporation v. Internal Revenue Service (filed Mar 11, 2015)
Microsoft Corporation submitted four FOIA requests to the IRS for records concerning contracts awarded to two large law firms for representation of the agency and temporary and proposed regulations allowing such law firms to question witnesses in connection with IRS examinations. The IRS is currently conducting an audit of Microsoft’s federal taxes from 2004-2009. The agency acknowledged receipt of each request and indicated that it would be unable to respond within 20 days. Microsoft ultimately filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Brown et al v. Customs and Border Protection (filed Mar 12, 2015)
Meredith Brown and two other immigration attorneys, as well as 11 noncitizens have had FOIA requests pending at Customs and Border Protection for more than 20 days. They filed a class action suit against the agency requiring it to respond to FOIA requests pending for more than the 20 days required by the statute within 60 days of the court’s order.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Brown et al v. Customs and Border Protection (filed Mar 12, 2015)
Meredith Brown and two other immigration attorneys, as well as 11 noncitizens have had FOIA requests pending at Customs and Border Protection for more than 20 days. They filed a class action suit against the agency requiring it to respond to FOIA requests pending for more than the 20 days required by the statute within 60 days of the court’s order.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - MELHEM v. JOHNSON et al (filed Mar 12, 2015)
Yaccoub Melhem, a Lebanese citizen challenging his removal proceedings based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen, submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for his alien file. The agency withheld 92 pages in full, 114 pages in part, and referred 330 pages to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Melhem appealed the agency’s decision and USCIS disclosed 42 pages in full or in part. Melhem then filed suit.
Issues: Exemption 6 – Invasion of privacy, Exemption 7(C) – Invasion of privacy concerning law enforcement records - GAWKER MEDIA, LLC et al v. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Mar 13, 2015)
John Cook, a reporter for Gawker Media, submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State in 2012 for email communications between Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Philippe Reines and 34 media outlets. The agency responded to Cook’s request by indicating that it could find no responsive records. Cook appealed and provided evidence of communications between Reines and Buzzfeed reporter Michael Hastings. State remanded Cook’s request for additional searches. However, after hearing nothing further from the agency, Gawker Media filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
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