11 new FOIA court documents, plus case descriptions

We have added 8 documents from 2 FOIA cases filed between September 21, 2014 and September 27, 2014. 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.

• SMITH v. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (filed Sep 23, 2014)
  Grant Smith of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Defense for a 1987 Institute for Defense Analyses report entitled “Current Technology Issues in Israel.” The agency withheld the report under a variety of statutes it claimed prohibited disclosure under Exemption 3 (other statutes). Smith appealed the denial and after considerable back and forth over two years, the agency had not responded to his appeal and he filed suit.
  Issues: Exemption 3, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
• Gahagan v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (filed Sep 27, 2014)
  Michael Gahagan , an immigration attorney, submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for the alien file for his client Miztle Amador-Castillo, currently being held pending removal proceedings. The agency released 51 pages, but withheld 17 pages entirely. Gahagan filed an appeal of the agency’s decision, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, he filed suit.
  Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index

In addition, we have added 3 documents from 1 case, with an earlier filing date, that has recently appeared on PACER.

• EJF Plus, Inc. v. United States Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District (filed Sep 19, 2014)
  EJF Plus submitted a FOIA request to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District, for all records concerning a site inspection of a property the company owned. The agency responded by withholding two documents under Exemption 5 (privileges) and 131 documents and 10 photographs under Exemption 7(A) (ongoing investigation or proceeding). EJF Plus submitted a second request for the same records as well as records pertaining to a subsequent site inspection. The agency again denied some records under Exemption 7(A). EJF Plus appealed the agency’s decision, which was upheld by the Chicago District. EJF Plus then appealed that decision to the Army General Counsel. After hearing nothing further concerning its appeal to the General Counsel, EJF Plus filed suit.
  Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index