HETZNECKER v. NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY et al and 8 other new FOIA lawsuits

We have added 54 documents from 9 FOIA cases filed between February 28, 2016 and March 5, 2016. 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. HETZNECKER v. NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY et al (filed Feb 29, 2016)
   Paul Hetznecker, a Philadelphia attorney representing the Occupy Philadelphia group, submitted FOIA requests to the National Security Agency, the CIA, and the FBI for records concerning surveillance of the Occupy Philadelphia group. The NSA failed to respond, the CIA told Hetznecker that it had no records because it did not have jurisdiction to conduct surveillance of domestic groups, and the FBI provide five heavily redacted records with redactions made under Exemption 7 (law enforcement records). Hetznecker appealed all the decisions, but after the agencies failed to respond, he filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Public Interest Fee Waiver
2. SROUR v. UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES (filed Feb 29, 2016)
   Jamil Srour, who was granted asylum in 2000 but denied a change in his status in 2008, submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for records concerning his case. The agency acknowledged receipt of his request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Srour filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
3. JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Feb 29, 2016)
   Judicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State for communications between the agency and Natalio Alberto Nisman, an Argentine prosecutor who was shot to death in January 2015, from 2006-2015. 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
4. DWAILEEBE v. MARTINEAU et al (filed Feb 29, 2016)
   Gary Dwaieebe filed suit against the IRS alleging that the agency mislabeled him as an income tax non-filer and that the agency did not have legal authority to do so. Dwaieebe’s complaint refers to various FOIA requests but does not indicate that he actually filed them. Dwaieebe does not have any claim under FOIA.
   Issues: FOIA mentioned only tangentially
5. BOYLE v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (filed Mar 1, 2016)
   Edmund Boyle, a federal prisoner, submitted a FOIA request to the FBI’s Newark, NJ field office for records concerning an attempted burglary of a bank in Pinebrook, NJ in 1998. After hearing nothing from the Newark field office, Boyle submitted an appeal to the Office of Information Policy. OIP told Boyle that the Newark field office had no record of receiving his request. Boyle submitted a second request to the Newark field office, but after hearing nothing further from the field office, he filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit
6. HAMMOND v. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE et al (filed Mar 2, 2016)
   Robert Hammond submitted a number of FOIA requests to the Department of Defense for his medical records. He believed that his medical records were inaccurate and tried to get more information from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He finally filed suit alleging various violations of FOIA and the Privacy Act.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
7. Fidell v. Defense (filed Mar 3, 2016)
   Eugene Fidell, who is representing Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl in his court-martial, submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Defense for all records concerning Bergdahl. Fidell asked for expedited processing. The agency told Fidell that his request fell within the category of unusual circumstances and that it would take a considerable amount of time to respond. Fidell appealed that response, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, he filed suit.
   Issues: Expedited processing, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
8. CITIZENS UNITED v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Mar 3, 2016)
   Citizens United submitted three FOIA requests to the Department of State for records discussing the Clinton Executive Services Corp., emails between former Chief of Staff David Wade and Cheryl Mills or Heather Samuelson concerning the review of Hillary Clinton’s emails, and all emails from Heather Samuelson to Cheryl Mills or Huma Abedin. Citizens United requested expedited processing for all three requests, which was granted by the State Department. However, after hearing nothing further about any of the requests, Citizens United filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index
9. FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM v. U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION REFORM et al (filed Mar 4, 2016)
   The Federation for American Immigration Reform submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for records concerning communications to the agency from the White House pertaining to resettlement of Syrian refugees. The Federation also submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State for the same kinds of records. The agencies acknowledged receipt of the requests, but after hearing nothing further from either agency, the Federation filed suit against both agencies.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index