FOIA Activity: 11 New Procedural or Substantive Decisions

We have added 11 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between May 24, 2020 and May 30, 2020. These are associated with 10 FOIA cases pending in federal district court. Note that because there can be delays between the date a decision is made and when it shows up on PACER, this listing includes only decisions that appeared on PACER during this period.

Click on the date to view the full text of the decision. Click on a case title below to view other details for that case, including links to the docket report and complaint.

1. DC 1:2014cv00403 — SAI v. TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

   • May 29, 2020: MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER granting in part and denying in part Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment, Dkt. [174] , and denying Plaintiff's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, Dkt. 185. See document for details. Signed by Judge Randolph D. Moss on 5/29/2020. (lcrdm1)
2. DC 1:2018cv00007 — CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

   • May 26, 2020: MEMORANDUM AND OPINION regarding Defendant's [25] Motion for Summary Judgment and Plaintiffs [27] Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. Signed by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on 5/26/2020. (lcdl)
3. DC 1:2018cv01614 — AMERICAN IMMIGRATION COUNCIL v. U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOM ENFORCEMENT et al

   • May 27, 2020: MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 5/27/2020. (lcabj3)
4. FLS 2:2019cv14243 — Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service et al

   • May 26, 2020: ORDER Granting [33] Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Completion of the Administrative Record. Signed by Judge Robin L. Rosenberg on 5/26/2020. See attached document for full details. (hhn)
5. NYS 1:2018cv09363 — NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. v. U.S. Department Of Justice

   • May 29, 2020: OPINION & ORDER re: [22] MOTION for Summary Judgment. filed by U.S. Department Of Justice, [25] CROSS MOTION for Summary Judgment and Opposition to Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 22). filed by NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.. In sum, DOJ has not carried its burden of showing that its search was adequate with respect to any subpart of LDF's FOIA request. As such, its motion for summary judgment is DENIED, and LDF's cross -motion for summary judgment is GRANTED. DOJ is hereby ORDERED to conduct an adequate search to identify documents responsive to each subpart of LDF's FOIA request. Within 21 days of the date of this Opinion and Order, the parties shall meet and confer and submit a joint letter setting out agreed-upon search terms for a search of the census collection database for records responsive to subpart (2) of LDF's request. In that letter, the parties shall also update the Court on the st atus of the search of the census collection database for records responsive to subparts (1), (3), (4), and (5) of LDF's request. The Clerk of Court is respectfully requested to enter judgment. This resolves Dkt. Nos. 22 and 25. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Alison J. Nathan on 5/29/2020) (ks) Transmission to Orders and Judgments Clerk for processing.
   • May 29, 2020: CLERK'S JUDGMENT re: [37] Memorandum & Opinion. in favor of NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. against U.S. Department Of Justice. It is hereby ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED: That for the reasons stated in the Court's Opinio n and Order dated May 29, 2020, in sum, DOJ has not carried its burden of showing that its search was adequate with respect to any subpart of LDF's FOIA request. As such, its motion for summary judgment is DENIED, and LDF's cross-motion for summary judgment is GRANTED. DOJ is hereby ORDERED to conduct an adequate search to identify documents responsive to each subpart of LDF's FOIA request. Within 21 days of the date of the Opinion and Order, the parties shall meet and confer and submit a joint letter setting out agreed-upon search terms for a search of the census collection database for records responsive to subpart (2) of LDF's request. In that letter, the parties shall also update the Court on the status of the search of the census collection database for records responsive to subparts (1), (3), (4), and (5) of LDF's request. (Signed by Clerk of Court Ruby Krajick on 05/29/2020) (Attachments: # 1 Notice of Right to Appeal) (dt)
6. NYS 1:2018cv11227 — Natural Resources Defense Council et al v. United States Environmental Protection Agency

   • May 28, 2020: JUDGMENT: ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED, that in accordance with the mandate of the Court of Appeals, and all prior proceedings in this action, Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment is granted, Defendant's cross-motion for summary judgment is denied, and Defendant shall produce the OMEGA v.1.4.59 core model to Plaintiffs on or before June 7, 2020 (ten calendar days after issuance of the appellate mandate). (Signed by Judge P. Kevin Castel on 5/28/2020) (jwh)
7. NYS 1:2020cv02761 — Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University v. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention et al

   • May 26, 2020: ORDER: The initial pretrial conference scheduled for June 4, 2020, at 1:20 p.m. is RESCHEDULED to June 4, 2020, at 11:20 a.m. The conference shall proceed telephonically. The parties are each directed to call either (888) 398-2342 or (215) 861-0674, and enter access code 5598827. SO ORDERED., ( Initial Conference set for 6/4/2020 at 11:20 AM before Judge Analisa Torres., Telephone Conference set for 6/4/2020 at 11:20 AM before Judge Analisa Torres.) (Signed by Judge Analisa Torres on 5/26/2020) (ama)
8. OR 1:2019cv00766 — Evans et al v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

   • May 27, 2020: ORDER AND OPINION: Having considered the record and the arguments offered by the parties, the Court finds no error in Magistrate Judge Clarke's analysis. Therefore, the Court adopts the F&R [31] in its entirety. Thus, plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment [18] is GRANTED, and defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment [13] is DENIED. Accordingly, defendant shall comply with plaintiffs' Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552 et seq, request and release unredacted landowner lists. Signed on 5/27/2020 by Judge Ann L. Aiken. (ck)
9. WAW 2:2018cv01635 — Withey et al v. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

   • May 29, 2020: MINUTE ORDER granting parties' [77] Fourth Stipulated Motion regarding Plaintiffs' partial motion for summary judgment and the FBI's cross-motion. The Court ORDERS the FBI to file a status report by June 10, 2020, regarding t he parties' discussions about a deadline for the FBI's reply and re-noting dates for Plaintiff's partial motion for summary judgment (Dkt. No. [23] ) and the FBI's cross-motion (Dkt. No. [34] ). Authorized by U.S. District Judge John C Coughenour. (TH)
10. WAW 2:2019cv00645 — National Parks Conservation Association v. US Department of the Navy

    • May 26, 2020: MINUTE ORDER granting Plaintiff's [25] Motion for Leave to File Over-length Motions and Briefs: Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment shall not exceed twenty-nine (29) pages in length. Any response shall not exceed twenty-nine (29) pages in length, and any reply shall not exceed fourteen-and-a-half (14) pages in length. Signed by Judge Thomas S. Zilly.(MW)