CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION and 17 other new FOIA lawsuits

We have added 102 documents from 16 FOIA cases filed between May 3, 2020 and May 9, 2020. 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. CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (filed May 6, 2020)
   Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington submitted FOIA requests to the Department of Education and Department of Housing and Urban Development for records concerning the Urban Revitalization Coalition, a non-profit group founded and operated by supporters of President Trump. CREW sent two requests to the Department of Education pertaining to a cancelled event at Virginia Union University scheduled to honor President Trump on Martin Luther King Day. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests. CREW also submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for records concerning communications between HUD’s Cleveland Office and URC. The agency acknowledged the request. After hearing nothing further from either agency, CREW filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
2. DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES (filed May 4, 2020)
   The Daily Caller News Foundation submitted a FOIA request to the National Institutes of Health for records concerning for communications to and from Dr. Anthony Fauci and deputy director H. Clifford Lane two doctors from the World Health Organization pertaining to the corona virus. DCNF also requested expedited processing. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and granted DCNF’s request for expedited processing. After hearing nothing further from the agency, DCNF filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index
3. ENERGY POLICY ADVOCATES v. UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (filed May 4, 2020)
   Energy Policy Advocates submitted a FOIA request to the EPA for records concerning emails sent to three named officials with a list of keywords. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Energy Policy Advocates filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
4. CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY v. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT et al (filed May 4, 2020)
   The Center for Biological Diversity submitted FOIA requests to the Department of Interior for records concerning Cliven Bundy and the Bundy militia. The agency acknowledged the requests but after hearing nothing further from the agency pertaining to any of its requests, CBD filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
5. Perez v. YouTube, Inc. (filed May 4, 2020)
   Louis Perez filed suit against YouTube. This is not a FOIA claim.
   Issues: FOIA not mentioned
6. RYO v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY et al (filed May 5, 2020)
   Emily Ryo, law professor at the University of Southern California, submitted three FOIA requests to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection for records containing data on detention of individuals who were picked up by and detained by the agencies. The agencies acknowledged receipt of the requests. The agency provided some data in response to Ryo’s first FOIA request but after she appealed, ICE agreed to conduct a new search. In response to her second FOIA request, the agency told Ryo that it found no records. She filed an administrative appeal of that decision but heard nothing further. After hearing nothing further from the agencies pertaining to any of her requests, Ryo filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index
7. AMERICAN OVERSIGHT v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY et al (filed May 5, 2020)
   American Oversight submitted FOIA requests to the Department Treasury, Department of State, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for records concerning communications pertaining to corona virus. American Oversight also requested expedited processing. The agencies acknowledged receipt of the requests. CMS granted American Oversight’s request for expedited processing, while the State Department denied its request for expedited processing. American Oversight filed an administrative appeal of the State Department’s denial of its request for expedited processing. After hearing nothing further from the agencies, American Oversight filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Expedited processing, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
8. ACCO ENGINEERED SYSTEMS, INC. v. NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING COMMAND (filed May 5, 2020)
   Acco Engineered Systems submitted a FOIA request to Naval Facilities Engineering Command for Contract Number N62473-13-D-0607 awarded to Fortis Networks. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Acco Engineered Systems filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
9. Laws v. United States of America Department of Science and Technology et al (filed May 5, 2020)
   Reginald Laws submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Energy. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Laws filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit
10. Stevens et al v. United States Immigration Customs Enforcement, et al., (filed May 5, 2020)
    Jacqueline Stevens, a professor of political science at Northwestern University, submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for records concerning a list of ICE Enforcement and Removal Field and Subfield offices by control city. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and asked Stevens to clarify the request. Stevens provided some clarification. The agency provided a final response with a single page spreadsheet. Stevens filed an administrative appeal of that decision. Stevens submitted a second FOIA request for records concerning communications between the agency and Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL). The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but provided no further records. Stevens submitted other FOIA requests for records pertaining to identified jails used to house detainees. The agency acknowledged of those requests but after hearing nothing further from the agency pertaining to any of her requests, Stevens filed suit.
    Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
11. Laws v. United States of America, et al (filed May 5, 2020)
    Reginald Laws submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Laws filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit
12. Human Rights Defense Center v. United States Department of Justice et al (filed May 5, 2020)
    The Human Rights Defense Center submitted a FOIA request to the Drug Enforcement Administration for records concerning all litigation against the agency where the case was resolved by paying $1,000 or more. The time frame was January 2010 to the present. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency told HRDC that the request was too vague to allow a search. HRDC filed an administrative appeal of that decision. The agency denied the appeal. HRDC then filed suit.
    Issues: Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
13. WILD HORSE FREEDOM FEDERATION v. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT (filed May 7, 2020)
    The Wild Horse Freedom Foundation submitted a FOIA request to the Bureau of Land Management for records concerning wild horses or burros being sold or adopted or transported to destinations in other countries from July 2018 to July 2019. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, the Wild Horse Freedom Foundation filed suit.
    Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
14. DEMOCRACY FORWARD FOUNDATION v. CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU (filed May 7, 2020)
    Democracy Forward Foundation submitted two FOIA requests to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for records concerning Taskforce meetings and the membership of the Taskforce. DFF also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged both requests but after hearing nothing further from the agency, DFF filed suit.
    Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index, Public Interest Fee Waiver
15. AMERICAN IMMIGRATION COUNCIL v. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY et al (filed May 7, 2020)
    The American Immigration Council submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Homeland Security for records concerning U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s response to the corona virus pandemic. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, AIC filed suit.
    Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index
16. Active Thermal Concepts, Inc. v. US Dept of Veterans Affairs (filed May 8, 2020)
    Active Thermal Concepts submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Active Thermal Concepts filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees

In addition, we have added 5 documents from 2 cases, with earlier filing dates, that have recently appeared on PACER.

• Immigration Center for Women and Children v. ASISTA Immigration Assistance, Inc. et al (filed Apr 30, 2020)
• Stahlman v. U.S. Department of Justice (filed Apr 27, 2020)