State of Florida et al v. United States Department of Justice and 25 other new FOIA lawsuits, plus case descriptions
We have added 186 documents from 22 FOIA cases filed between March 12, 2023 and March 18, 2023. 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.
- State of Florida et al v. United States Department of Justice (filed Mar 15, 2023)
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice for records concerning the March 2022 HHS Guidance and the March 2022 CRT Letter. AHCA also requested expedited processing and a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency granted AHCA’s request for expedited processing. However, after hearing nothing further from the agency, AHCA filed suit.
Issues: Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Vaughn index - TWIN-CITY MOTOR COMPANY BUILDING, LLC v. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE (filed Mar 14, 2023)
Twin City Motor Company Building submitted a FOIA request to the IRS for records concerning two appraisal reports prepared for Steven Holzer and the IRS by Howard Kanter IRS LB&I Engineering Group 1843. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Twin City Motor Company Building filed suit.
Issues: Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Failure to respond within statutory time limit - JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION (filed Mar 14, 2023)
Judicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the Federal Trade Commission for records held by Chair Lina Khan concerning Elon Musk and Twitter. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - BIRD v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION et al (filed Mar 15, 2023)
Author Kai Bird submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for records concerning Roy Cohn. Bird pointed out that the FBI had previously released 7848 heavily redacted records on Cohn which were available online, but there were believed to be a 4,000-page file on Cohn. He asked for an unredacted version of the 748 pages as well as disclosure of all other records on Cohn. Bird also requested inclusion in the media fee category. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and told Bird that it would not provide a more unredacted version of the 748-paage available online. It also divided Bird’s request into separate requests and told him that the requests qualified for unusual circumstances. Bird filed an administrative appeal but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Bird filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - SARNO v. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES et al (filed Mar 15, 2023)
Michael Sarno, a federal prisoner, submitted FOIA requests to the Department of Justice for records concerning audio and videotapes used during his investigation and trial. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests but after failing to respond, Sarno filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - ENERGY POLICY ADVOCATES v. FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION (filed Mar 16, 2023)
Energy Policy Advocates submitted two FOIA requests to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for records concerning text messages from two different groups of FERC officials, the first one for text messages from outside domains who lobbied for renewable energy sources. The second request was for text messages from three FERC officials with representatives of organizations tasked with ensuring grid reliability. EPA also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests. The agency provided 22 records in response to one of the requests. However, EPA believed because FERC had not specified its appeal rights it was not required to file an administrative appeal. After hearing nothing further from the agency, EPA filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Public Interest Fee Waiver, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - MAJEED v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (filed Mar 16, 2023)
Mohammed Majeed, an author and researcher who had written about the Saddam Hussein regime, submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Defense for records concerning 18 records stored in a database in an archive at the Conflict Records Research Center at the National Defense University. Majeed also submitted five more FOIA requests for records in the database. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests. The agency told Majeed that it could not respond on time. Majeed then filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Public Interest Fee Waiver, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - LOWY et al v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION et al (filed Mar 16, 2023)
Karen Lowy and Daniel Jaffe submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for records concerning the investigation of the school shooting at the Edmund Burke School in Northwest Washington. Lowy and Jaffe were victims of the shooting. The FBI acknowledged receipt of the request and divided it into four separate requests. The FBI then issued a Glomar response under the privacy exemptions. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Lowy and Jaffe filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - SNYDER v. NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORD ADMINISTRATION (filed Mar 17, 2023)
Georgetown Law Professor Brad Snyder submitted a FOIA request to the National Archives and Records Administration for records concerning Angelo Herndon , who became active in the Communist Party in 1929 and was later arrested and convicted of attempting to incite an insurrection. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency found only 798 pages responsive to the request and withheld some of them. Snyder argued that the agency should provide him with expedited processing. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Snyder filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - HERITAGE FOUNDATION et al v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Mar 17, 2023)
The Heritage Foundation submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice for records concerning protests outside Supreme Court justices residences. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. EOUSA rejected the request because it was not specific enough. No other DOJ component responded. After hearing Nothing further from the agency, the Heritage Foundation filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Holmes v. IRS Disclosure Office et al (filed Mar 15, 2023)
Brian-Isiah Holmes submitted a FOIA request to the IRS for records concerning his taxes since 2017. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Holmes filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit - Reynolds v. United States Probation Office et al (filed Mar 16, 2023)
Michael Reynolds sued the U.S. Probation Office alleging arson. This is not a FOIA request.
Issues: FOIA not mentioned - TIKAL v. INTERNAL REVENUE SVC et al (filed Mar 16, 2023)
Alan David Tikal, a federal prisoner, submitted a FOIA request to the IRS for records a 2022 memo. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Tikal filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit - Thompson v. U.S. Justice Department (filed Mar 15, 2023)
David Thompson submitted a FOIA request with the Environment & Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Thompson filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit - Ryan, LLC v. United States Department of the Interior (filed Mar 15, 2023)
Ryan, LLC, a company that offers tax recovery services, submitted five FOIA requests to the Office of Natural Resources Revenue at the Department of Interior for records concerning specific information related to Ryan and its clients. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests and asked Ryan to consolidate the requests. Ryan did so and the agency disclosed 123 pages, some with redactions. Ryan filed an administrative appeal. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Ryan filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit - Esposito v. Internal Revenue Service (filed Mar 14, 2023)
Darlene Esposito sued the IRS for records under the West Virginia open records act. This is not a FOIA case.
Issues: FOIA not mentioned - Delgado v. United States of America (filed Mar 13, 2023)
Carlos Delgado submitted a FOIA request to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Delgado filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit - LEOPOLD et al v. NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION (filed Mar 15, 2023)
Bloomberg News Reporter Jason Leopold submitted a FOIA request to the National Archives and Records Administration for records concerning instances in prior administrations when records were not turned over to NARA in accordance with the Presidential Records Act. Leopold also requested expedited processing. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. NARA granted Leopold’s request for expedited processing and told that there were more than 25 other similar FOIA requests the agency was processing. It disclosed 75 pages of emails from the Biden administration pertaining to his vice-presidential records. There were some redactions under Exemption 6 (invasion of privacy) and Exemption 7(C) (invasion of privacy concerning law enforcement records). After hearing nothing further from the agency, Leopold filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - JUDICIAL WATCH v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE et al (filed Mar 15, 2023)
Judicial Watch submitted FOIA requests to the Department of Justice and the Department of State concerning the extradition of Saul Chavez, who ran over and killed William McCann, the brother of Judicial Watch client Brian McCann in Chicago in 2011. Chavez fled to Mexico but was extradited to the United States in December 2022. The agencies acknowledged receipt of the requests. The FBI issued a Glomar response under Exemption 6 (invasion of privacy) and Exemption 7(C) (invasion of privacy concerning law enforcement records). Judicial Watch filed an administrative appeal but it was upheld. After hearing nothing further from the State Department, Judicial Watch filed suit against both agencies.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Esposito v. Center Point Legal Solutions (filed Mar 15, 2023)
Darlene Esposito filed suit against Center Point Legal Solutions for records under the Minnesota data practices act. This is not a FOIA case.
Issues: FOIA not mentioned - FUNCTIONAL GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (filed Mar 16, 2023)
Functional Government Initiative submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Education for records concerning communications regarding student loan forgiveness of the extension of the moratorium on loan repayment through December 22. FGI also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency indicated that it was processing the request. 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 - BLOOMBERG LP v. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION et al (filed Mar 16, 2023)
Bloomberg, L.P. submitted a FOIA request to the FDA for records concerning Neuralink’s potential brain devices. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. Bloomberg agreed to narrow the scope of its request. It did so but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Bloomberg filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
In addition, we have added 5 documents from 4 cases, with earlier filing dates, that have recently appeared on PACER.
- CASE NUMBER NOT USED (filed Mar 8, 2023)
- Kuck v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (filed Mar 8, 2023)
- (PS) Rossington et al v. Mountain Circle Family Service, Inc., et al (filed Mar 7, 2023)
- Stevens v. United States Health and Human Services et al (filed Sep 16, 2022)
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