New York Times Company et al v. Federal Aviation Administration and 20 other new FOIA lawsuits
We have added 230 documents from 21 FOIA cases filed between June 2, 2024 and June 8, 2024. 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.
- New York Times Company et al v. Federal Aviation Administration (filed Jun 3, 2024)
New York Times reporter Mark Walker submitted four FOIA requests to the Federal Aviation Administration for records concerning Conformity Inspection records prepared by the FAA before the agency issued its airworthiness certificate for the Boeing 737 Max. The New York Times also requested a fee waiver. The FAA acknowledged receipt of the request and granted the request for a fee waiver. After hearing nothing further from the agency, the New York Times filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Adequacy – Search - INFORMED CONSENT ACTION NETWORK v. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION et al (filed Jun 2, 2024)
Informed Consent Action Network submitted a FOIA request to Centers for Disease Control for records concerning emails containing specified terms. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. CDC located 435 pages of responsive records It released 429 pages in full and withheld six pages in full under Exemption 5 (privileges) and Exemption 6 (invasion of privacy). ICAN filed an administrative appeal. After hearing nothing further from the agency, ICAN filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - INFORMED CONSENT ACTION NETWORK v. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION et al (filed Jun 2, 2024)
Informed Consent Action Network submitted a FOIA request to the Centers for Disease Control for records concerning the result of ICAN’s 2021 administrative appeal regarding a request in which documents had been withheld. CDC had previously given ICAN a 16-page supplemental production and asked ICAN to withdraw its administrative appeal. ICAN refused to do so and Health and Human Services agreed to re-review the issue. After hearing northing further, ICAN filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - INFORMED CONSENT ACTION NETWORK v. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION et al (filed Jun 2, 2024)
Informed Consent Action Network submitted a FOIA request to Centers for Disease Control for records concerning emails with specified search terms. CDC told ICAN that it had located 42 responsive pages and that 18 pages had been referred to HHS for its response. ICAN filed an administrative appeal. After hearing nothing further from the agency, ICAN filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - INFORMED CONSENT ACTION NETWORK v. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION et al (filed Jun 2, 2024)
Informed Consent Action Network submitted a FOIA request to the Centers for Disease Control for records concerning emails to and from a specified person. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency located 926 responsive pages. CDC referred 178 pages to the FDA. ICAN filed suit but after hearing nothing further from the agency, ICAN filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - AMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Jun 3, 2024)
America First Legal Foundation submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice for emails from Matthew Colangelo with the words TRUMP or POTUS. AFL also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, AFL filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - CATO INSTITUTE v. U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION et al (filed Jun 5, 2024)
Cato Institute submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for records concerning individual encounters or apprehensions by the border patrol from FY 1999 to FY 2024. The Cato Institute requested the records in an Excel format. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, the Cato Institute filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - ARLTON v. NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION et al (filed Jun 5, 2024)
Paul Arlton submitted a FOIA request to NASA for records concerning the Mars Helicopter program. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after being dissatisfied by the agency’s response, Arlton filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Jun 5, 2024)
Project on Government Oversight submitted two FOIA requests to the Department of State for records concerning emails concerning potential human rights violations committed by Israel after the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack. POGO requested expedited processing and a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests but after hearing nothing further from the agency, POGO filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Expedited processing, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION et al v. OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE et al (filed Jun 6, 2024)
ACLU and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers submitted a FOIA to the Department of Justice for records concerning two recent DOJ memos on charging pleas and sentencing. The ACLU also requested expedited processing and a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. DOJ denied the request for expedited processing. ACLU appealed the denial of expedited processing. OIP upheld the agency’s denial of expedited processing. After hearing nothing further from the agency, ACLU filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Fees, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - PUBLIC EMPLOYEES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY v. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE (filed Jun 7, 2024)
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility submitted a FOIA request to the National Park Service for records concerning Uniform Crime Reports made to the Department of Justice. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. After hearing nothing further from the agency, PEER filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (filed Jun 7, 2024)
Center for Immigration Studies submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Health and Human Services for records concerning the zip code for each sponsor associated with unaccompanied alien children the agency could not reach after the safety and well-being call. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency denies the request. CIS filed an administrative appeal. After hearing nothing further from the agency, CIS filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - PUBLIC EMPLOYEES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY v. U.S. PARK POLICE (filed Jun 7, 2024)
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility submitted two FOIA requests to U.S. Park Police for records. The first request asked for records concerning assaults against employees in CY 22. The second request asked for reports of assaults on employees in CY 23. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests. After hearing nothing further from the agency, PEER filed
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - PROTECT THE PUBLIC'S TRUST v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (filed Jun 7, 2024)
Protect the Public’s Trust submitted two FOIA requests to the Bureau of Land Management for records concerning protests in Washington DC in October 2021. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, PPT filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - PHILLIPS v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY et al (filed Jun 7, 2024)
Joshua Phillips submitted multiple FOIA requests to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services for records concerning self-harm and other forms of stress experienced by unaccompanied minors. The agencies acknowledged receipt of the requests but after hearing nothing further from the agencies, Phillips filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - IXI TECHNOLOGY, INC. v. DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY (filed Jun 7, 2024)
IXI Technology submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Navy for records concerning procurement of BME for NTDS Visualization. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the Navy, IXI filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES v. U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES (filed Jun 8, 2024)
Center for Immigration Studies submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for records concerning total number of supporters or U.S.-based supporters of approved beneficiaries who sought humanitarian parole. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. After hearing nothing from the agency, CIS filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - INFORMED CONSENT ACTION NETWORK v. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION et al (filed Jun 8, 2024)
Informed Consent Action Network submitted a FOIA request to the Centers for Disease Control for records concerning emails from Frank DeStefano that includes certain keywords in the subject line. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency told ICAN that its search found no responsive records. ICAN filed an administrative appeal. After hearing nothing further from the agency, ICAN filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - INFORMED CONSENT ACTION NETWORK v. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION et al (filed Jun 8, 2024)
Informed Consent Action Network submitted a FOIA request to the Centers for Disease Control for records concerning emails from or to Frank DeStafano including certain keywords in the subject line. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency located 58 pages of responsive records and released 22 in full, 10 in part, and withheld 26 pages in full. ICAN filed an administrative appeal but after hearing nothing further from the agency, ICAN filed suit.
Issues: Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Vaughn index - American Securities Association v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (filed Jun 6, 2024)
American Securities Association submitted FOIA requests to the SEC for records concerning the SEC’s recent recordkeeping sweep initiative. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests but after hearing nothing further from the agency, ASA filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights et al v. United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement et al (filed Jun 6, 2024)
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the ACLU of Louisiana, and New York Civil Rights Union submitted four FOIA requests to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for records concerning the treatment of individuals across NOLA’s ICE facilities. The plaintiffs also requested expedited processing and a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests and denied the plaintiffs request for expedited processing. The plaintiffs filed an administrative appeal. Two components responded to the appeal while two others died not. After hearing nothing further from the agency, the plaintiffs filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
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