AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION and 6 other new FOIA lawsuits

We have added 36 documents from 6 FOIA cases filed between December 25, 2022 and December 31, 2022. 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. AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (filed Dec 27, 2022)
   American Center for Law and Justice submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for records concerning the FBI’s non-compliance with Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 2021. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. After hearing nothing further from the agency, ACLJ filed suit.
   Issues: Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Vaughn index
2. FUNCTIONAL GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (filed Dec 30, 2022)
   Functional Government Initiative submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Commerce for records concerning meetings of the Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force. FGI also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency granted FGI’s request for a fee waiver. After hearing nothing further from the agency, FGI filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
3. FUNCTIONAL GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (filed Dec 30, 2022)
   Functional Government Initiative submitted a FOIA request for records concerning meetings of the Supply Chain Disruption Task Force. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, FGI filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
4. ENERGY POLICY ADVOCATES v. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (filed Dec 31, 2022)
   Energy Policy Advocates submitted a FOIA request to the Securities and Exchange Commission for records concerning Chairman Gensler’s policy for forwarding emails sent to his personal account to the agency for records retention. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, EPA filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
5. The New York Times Company et al v. United States Food & Drug Administration (filed Dec 27, 2022)
   New York Times Reporter Kate Kelly submitted a FOIA request to the FDA for records concerning communications between the FDA staff and drug sponsors seeking to make an RX to OTC switch through the no-prescription drug office for oral contraceptives. The New York Times also requested expedited processing. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and denied the New York Times’ request for expedited processing. The New York Times filed an administrative appeal of the agency’s denial of its request for expedited processing. The agency denied the appeal. The New York Times then filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
6. Rifkin & Fox-Isicoff, P.A. v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (filed Dec 27, 2022)
   The law firm of Ripkin & Fox-Issicoff submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for records concerning the number of I-924 petitions pending on June 30, 2021. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and asked the law firm for a clarification. The law firm provide a clarification. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Ripkin & Fox-Iscoff filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees

In addition, we have added 6 documents from 1 case, with an earlier filing date, that has recently appeared on PACER.

• EVANS v. EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY (filed Dec 19, 2022)