Electronic Frontier Foundation v. United States Department of Homeland Security and 12 other new FOIA lawsuits

We have added 78 documents from 13 FOIA cases filed between November 10, 2019 and November 16, 2019. 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. Electronic Frontier Foundation v. United States Department of Homeland Security (filed Nov 12, 2019)
   The Electronic Frontier Foundation submitted FOIA requests to the Department of Homeland Security for records concerning the use of Rapid DNA testing to detect family fraud. EFF submitted two of its requests to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. EFF also requested expediting processing and inclusion in the news media fee category. The agency acknowledged both requests. It denied both requests because they were too broad to conduct a search. EFF filed administrative appeals of both denials. EFF also sent a FOIA request to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. EFF also requested expedited processing and inclusion in the news media fee category. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. It granted EFF’s request for expedited processing. However, after hearing nothing further from either agency, EFF filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Public Interest Fee Waiver
2. The Center for Investigative Reporting et al v. Department of Labor (filed Nov 11, 2019)
   Shosana Walter, a staff reporter for Reveal, submitted a FOIA request to the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor for records concerning any wage and hour complaints filed against the employer Synanon from 1960 to 1989. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but denied it entirely by asserting a Glomar response neither confirming nor denying the existence of records without citing any exemption as the basis of its Glomar response. Walter filed an administrative appeal but after hearing nothing further from the agency, the Center for Investigative Reporting filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
3. Grayson Flory v. United States Department of Homeland Security (filed Nov 13, 2019)
   Grayson Flory, a freelance writer, submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for records concerning No More Deaths, a human rights organization. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency closed the request because Flory had not provided third-party authorizations and the request was too broad to conduct a search. Flory filed an administrative appeal. After the agency failed to acknowledge receipt of his appeal, Flory contacted the Office of Government Information Services. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Flory filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
4. AMERICAN OVERSIGHT v. U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES (filed Nov 13, 2019)
   American Oversight submitted four FOIA requests to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for records concerning acting agency head Ken Cuccinelli, including communications, ethics concerns, decision memoranda, political leadership, and messages. American Oversight also submitted a FOIA request for records concerning communications to or from John Zadrozny mentioning Stephen Miller. American Oversight also requested expedited processing. The agency acknowledged receipt of all the requests except for the one pertaining to Zadrozny. After hearing nothing further from the agency pertaining to any of the requests, American Oversight filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Expedited processing, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
5. HENDERSON v. BERNARD et al (filed Nov 13, 2019)
   Tavarres Henderson requested records about the policies and procedures of the Georgia Board of Pardons. After the state did not respond, Henderson filed suit. This is not a FOIA claim.
   Issues: FOIA not mentioned
6. McNulty v. Internal Revenue Service (filed Nov 13, 2019)
   Michael McNulty, who had power of attorney for his father, William McNulty, submitted a FOIA request to the IRS for records concerning notes of correspondence between the agency, himself, his father, and Curtiss Ross, attorney for his father’s ex-wife, pertaining to settlement of back taxes. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency withheld records under Exemption 3 (other statutes) and Exemption 5 (privileges), based on attorney-client privilege. McNulty then filed suit.
   Issues: Litigation – Attorney’s fees
7. PUBLIC EMPLOYEES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY v. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT (filed Nov 14, 2019)
   Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility submitted a FOIA request to the Bureau of Land Management for records concerning the agency’s February 2019 decision to reduce the grazing fee, which applies in 16 Western states. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and told PEER that its request would be placed on the complex track for processing. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, PEER filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
8. JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (filed Nov 14, 2019)
   Judicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Census Bureau for records concerning hiring of non-citizens as translator or any other role to obtain an accurate count of immigrant community populations. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and asked Judicial Watch to clarify its request by identifying names of offices and/or individuals to search. After several back-and-forth discussions about the scope of the request without any further action on the part of the agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index
9. AMERICAN OVERSIGHT v. CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU et al (filed Nov 14, 2019)
   American Oversight submitted FOIA requests to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, OMB, Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Department of State, and the Department of Agriculture for records concerning calendar entries of political appointees. The agencies acknowledged receipt of the requests but after hearing nothing further from the agencies, American Oversight filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index
10. SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER et al v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY et al (filed Nov 14, 2019)
    The Southern Poverty Law Center and Al Otro Lado submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection for records concerning detention of unaccompanied minor children at or near ports of entry and the subsequent treatment of those children. SPLC and Al Otro Lado’s also requested expedited processing and a fee waiver. The agencies acknowledged receipt of the requests. The agencies told SPLC and Al Otro Lado’s that no fees would be incurred in processing their requests. However, after hearing anything further from either agency, SPLC and Al Otro Lado’s filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
11. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency et al (filed Nov 14, 2019)
    The Natural Resources Defense Council submitted FOIA requests to the EPA and the Department of Justice for records concerning communications between EPA and DOJ pertaining to the government’s position in three high-profile Clean Water Act suits. NRDC also requested a fee waiver. The agencies acknowledged receipt of the requests. The EPA told NRDC the parameters of the search it intended to conduct for responsive records. After hearing nothing further from either agency, NRDC filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Public Interest Fee Waiver
12. ZYNOVIEVA v. US DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Nov 15, 2019)
    Olena Zynovieva submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State for records concerning herself. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. Zynovieva’s counsel contacted the agency to check on the status of the request. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Zynovieva filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
13. MABEE v. FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION (filed Nov 15, 2019)
    Michael Mabee submitted three FOIA requests to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for records concerning notices of penalty submitted by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation to FERC. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests and asked Mabee to clarify portions of his requests. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Mabee filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees