FOIA Activity: 12 New Procedural or Substantive Decisions

We have added 12 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between August 23, 2020 and August 29, 2020. These are associated with 12 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 1:2018cv00859 — BRYAN v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE OFFICE OF INFORMATION POLICY et al

   • August 28, 2020: MEMORANDUM OPINION accompanying the final order issued separately this day. Signed by Judge Amit P. Mehta on 8/28/20.(psu1)
2. DC 1:2018cv02423 — AMERICAN OVERSIGHT v. U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

   • August 28, 2020: MEMORANDUM OPINION granting in part and denying in part [21] Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment; granting in part and denying in part [22] Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment. See document for details. Signed by Judge Rudolph Contreras on 8/28/2020. (lcrc1)
3. DC 1:2018cv03066 — NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO INC. et al v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

   • August 28, 2020: MEMORANDUM AND OPINION. Signed by Judge Carl J. Nichols on August 28, 2020. (lccjn2)
4. DC 1:2019cv00666 — NOVA OCULUS PARTNERS, LLC et al v. UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

   • August 28, 2020: MEMORANDUM OPINION regarding the defendant's [12] Motion for Summary Judgment and the plaintiffs' [14] Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment. See text for details. Signed by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on August 28, 2020. (lcdlf2)
5. DC 1:2019cv01070 — COLE v. COPAN et al

   • August 27, 2020: MEMORANDUM OPINION regarding the defendants' [9] Motion for Summary Judgment and the plaintiff's [12] Motion for Summary Judgment and for Discovery in the Alternative. See text for details. Signed by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on August 27, 2020. (lcdlf2)
6. DC 1:2019cv03265 — CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE et al

   • August 28, 2020: MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on 8-28-2020. (lcckk3)
7. ILS 3:2016cv00948 — White v. Department of Justice et al

   • August 25, 2020: MEMORANDUM AND ORDER, The Court DENIES in part and RESERVES RULING in part on White's motion to alter or amend the judgment pursuant to Rule 59(e) (Doc. 148), DENIES White's motion for leave to supplement his reply in support of his Rule 59(e) motion (Doc. 166), RESERVES RULING on White's motion for costs in the amount of $565.00 (Doc. 147) and motion to hold the USMS in contempt (Doc. 149) and ORDERS that a videoconference hearing be held on the outstanding issues in the pending motions, and that a USMS representative with knowledge about the agency's response to White's 2013 FOIA request shall be present at the hearing to answer any questions the Court may have. Signed by Judge J. Phil Gilbert on 8/25/2020. (jdh)
8. NYS 1:2020cv05096 — Open Society Justice Initiative v. Department of Defense et al

   • August 25, 2020: ORDER, It is hereby ORDERED that, pursuant to Rule 42(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the two cases are consolidated under the case number 20-CV-5096 (JMF). All future filings should be in 20-CV-5096 (JMF) alone. The parties shall ap pear for a teleconference with the Court on September 23, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. At least twenty-four hours before the conference, counsel shall email to the Court the names and telephone numbers of those who will have speaking roles at the conferenc e, and the Court will provide call-in information to those counsel. All others counsel who will not have speaking roles and members of the public may listen to the conference by calling the Court's dedicated conference call line at (888) 363- 4749 and using access code 542-1540 followed by the pound (#) key. The parties are reminded to follow the procedures for teleconferences described in the Court's Emergency Individual Rules and Practices in Light of COVID-19, which are availab le at https://nysd.uscourts.gov/hon-jesse-m-furman. No later than the Thursday before the conference, the parties shall file a joint status letter setting forth their views of the case and how it should proceed, including, if appropriate, a propose d briefing schedule. The Clerk of Court is directed to consolidate 20-CV-5096 (JMF) and 20-CV-6359 (JMF) under case number 20-CV-5096 (JMF), and to close 20-CV-6359. SO ORDERED. ( Telephone Conference set for 9/23/2020 at 10:00 AM before Judge Jesse M. Furman.) (Signed by Judge Jesse M. Furman on 8/25/20) Filed In Associated Cases: 1:20-cv-05096-JMF, 1:20-cv-06359-JMF (yv)
9. TXN 3:2019cv00985 — Stone v. United States Department of Justice

   • August 29, 2020: ORDER ACCEPTING FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, ANDRECOMMENDATION OF THE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE – The Court has under consideration the Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge Rebecca Rutherford dated August 10, 2020. The Court has made a de novo review of those portions of the proposed Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendation to which objections were made. The objections are OVERRULED.IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED that the Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge are accepted. (Ordered by Judge Ed Kinkeade on 8/29/2020) (chmb)
10. WAW 2:2018cv01442 — The Human Rights Defense Center et al v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services et al

    • August 27, 2020: JOINT STATUS REPORT AND ORDER re [56] Joint Status Report. The parties shall file a stipulated dismissal of this matter with prejudice or a joint status report to the Court on or before October 12, 2020. Signed by Judge James L. Robart. (PM)
11. WAW 2:2019cv00887 — Northwest Environmental Advocates v. United States Environmental Protection Agency

    • August 26, 2020: ORDER: The parties shall file a stipulation to dismiss the case or a joint status report on or before 10/9/2020. Signed by Judge Robert S. Lasnik. (MW)
12. WAW 2:2020cv00272 — Goebel v. Federal Aviation Administration

    • August 28, 2020: MINUTE ORDER granting parties' [20] Stipulated Motion to Set a Briefing Schedule. Defendant must file a motion for summary judgment and any supporting evidence no later than October 9, 2020; Plaintiff must file a combined response brief and cro ss-motion for summary judgment and any supporting evidence no later than November 6, 2020; Defendant must file its reply brief in support of its motion for summary judgment no later than November 20, 2020; Plaintiff must file his reply brief in support of his cross-motion for summary judgment no later than December 9, 2020. Authorized by U.S. District Judge John C Coughenour. (TH)