JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE and 13 other new FOIA lawsuits

We have added 72 documents from 14 FOIA cases filed between March 20, 2016 and April 2, 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. JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Mar 28, 2016)
   Judicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for records concerning any interviews conducted by the agency with Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, or Valerie Jarrett pertaining to Rod Blagojevich. The FBI acknowledged receipt of the request and denied it under Exemption 7(A) (interference with ongoing investigation or proceeding). Judicial Watch appealed to the Office of Information Policy, which upheld the FBI’s denial. Judicial Watch then filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index
2. LEOPOLD v. OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE (filed Mar 21, 2016)
   Journalist Jason Leopold submitted a FOIA request to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for copies of concluding documents contained in any Inspector General investigations closed during 2013-2015. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. Leopold had some back and forth communications about the status of the request, but after hearing nothing substantive from the agency, Leopold filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Public Interest Fee Waiver
3. SCHLESSINGER LAW OFFICES, P.A. v. FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION (filed Mar 22, 2016)
   The Schlessinger Law Offices submitted a FOIA request to the FDA for any response from Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company or its parent company Reynolds American regarding the FDA’s August 27, 2015 warning to Santa Fe that its products falsely claimed a lower risk of tobacco-related diseases. The FDA acknowledged receipt of the request and told Schlessinger that it would deny the request under Exemption 7(A) (ongoing investigation or proceeding) and Exemption 7(E) (investigative methods and techniques). Later, however, the agency indicated it was processing the request. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Schlessinger Law Offices filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
4. ANNICELLI v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (filed Mar 22, 2016)
   Lance Annicelli submitted a FOIA request to the Department of the Air Force for records regarding a Commander Directed Investigation of him in February and March 2015 that resulted in Annicelli being relieved from his command position. The agency disclosed some records but withheld witness statements under Exemption 6 (invasion of privacy). Annicelli appealed the decision and the agency released his own witness statement, but continued to withhold other statements under Exemption 7(C) (invasion of privacy concerning law enforcement records). Annicelli then filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
5. FRIENDS OF THE EARTH v. UNITED STATES COAST GUARD (filed Mar 22, 2016)
   Friends of the Earth submitted a FOIA request to the U.S. Coast Guard office in Seattle for records related to maritime incidents between July 2009 and February 2015 that occurred near Puget Sound in Washington. Friends of the Earth also requested a fee waiver, which the Seattle office granted. However, the Seattle office apparently assessed $1,000 in fees and told Friends of the Earth that the organization would need to request most of the records from Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C. Headquarters processed parts of the request and charged Friends of the Earth another $987 in fees. Without any apparent explanation of how the fees were assessed, the Coast Guard ultimately told Friends of the Earth that the fee waiver granted by the Seattle office did not apply to those records processed in the Washington, D.C. office. Because Friends of the Earth had failed to pay the assessed fees, the Coast Guard closed its request. Friends of the Earth then filed suit.
   Issues: Fees – Commitment to pay, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Public Interest Fee Waiver
6. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency (filed Mar 23, 2016)
   The Natural Resources Defense Council submitted a FOIA request to the EPA’s Chicago office for records concerning the agency’s oversight and monitoring of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s drinking water program and the extent of EPA’s knowledge of or involvement with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s oversight of Flint’s monitoring of lead levels in drinking water. After hearing nothing further from the agency, NRDC filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
7. Davis v. United States Department of Veterans Affairs (filed Mar 25, 2016)
   Gilbert Davis submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Veterans Affairs for his claims file. After the agency acknowledged receipt of his request, Davis asked for an appointment at the Denver VA office to review his claims file. When he arrived at the Denver VA office he was told the files could not be reviewed there but would need to be redacted under Exemption 6 (invasion of privacy) and copied on to a CD, which was available for files containing more than 10 pages. Davis appealed the decision and ultimately filed suit.
   Issues: Litigation – Attorney’s fees
8. COFFEY v. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT (filed Mar 25, 2016)
   Debbie Coffey submitted a FOIA request to the Bureau of Land Management for records showing the disposition of horses and burros between 1980-2000. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and told Coffey the estimated cost of the request would be $183, which Coffey paid by check. Coffey contacted the agency several times trying to get an estimated date of completion, but after the agency failed to respond, Coffey filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Fees, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
9. JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Mar 28, 2016)
   Judicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State for records concerning the agency’s processing of a December 2012 FOIA request submitted by CREW. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing 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
10. Western Watersheds Project v. Bureau of Land Management et al (filed Mar 29, 2016)
    The Western Watersheds Project submitted two FOIA requests to the Bureau of Land Management. One was for records concerning the Garat allotment, a livestock-grazing allotment in Idaho’s Owyhee Canyonlands. The other request was for records regarding the Argenta allotment in northern Nevada. After the agency failed to respond to either request, the Western Watersheds Project filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
11. FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM ("FAIR") v. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Mar 30, 2016)
    The Federation for American Immigration Reform submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel for records concerning the names of employees or contractors who worked on the legal rationale for prioritizing the removal of certain kinds of aliens. OLC provided a partial response to one part of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, FAIR filed suit.
    Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index
12. SHAPIRO v. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Mar 30, 2016)
    Researcher Ryan Shapiro submitted a FOIA request to the Office of the Solicitor for records concerning “change pages,” referring or relating to changes between versions of Supreme Court opinions or changes to published Supreme Court opinions. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and told Shapiro that since it was a very small office it was likely to take some time to process his request. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Shapiro filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
13. American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Inc. et al v. United States Department of Education (filed Mar 30, 2016)
    The ACLU and the National Consumer Law Center submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Education for records concerning the agency’s student debt collection practices and the policies governing private collection agencies with which the Department of Education has contracts. The agency provided two interim responses, withholding records under Exemption 4 (confidential business information), Exemption 5 (privileges), Exemption 6 (invasion of privacy), Exemption 7(C) (invasion of privacy concerning law enforcement records), and Exemption 7(E) (investigative methods and techniques). After the agency failed to respond in full, the ACLU and the National Consumer Law Center filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
14. Albers v. Federal Bureau of Investigation (filed Apr 1, 2016)
    Lewis Albers submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for records about himself. The agency denied his request to the extent that he was asking for confirmation of whether or not he was on a watch list. Albers appealed the FBI’s denial to the Office of Information Policy, which upheld the denial. Albers then filed suit.
    Issues: Litigation – Attorney’s fees