GIBBONS v. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE and 19 other new FOIA lawsuits, plus case descriptions
We have added 115 documents from 18 FOIA cases filed between December 2, 2018 and December 8, 2018. 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.
- GIBBONS v. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Dec 5, 2018)
Charles Gibbons, a free-lance journalist, submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for records concerning the International Solidarity Movement from 2001 to the present. Gibbons also requested inclusion in the news media fee category. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, told Gibbons it had located 1,396 potentially responsive pages, denied his request for news media fee status, and charged him $55. Gibbons told the agency he would pay the $55, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Gibbons filed a complaint with the Office of Government Information Services. OGIS contacted the FBI and was told that Gibbons’ request would be competed by August 2016. In response to later email sent by Gibbons, the FBI told him that his request would be competed in September 2017. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Gibbons filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Mondaca v. Executive United States Attorney's Office (filed Dec 3, 2018)
Jesus Antonio Mondaca, a federal prisoner, submitted a FOIA request to the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys for records identifying third parties who appeared before the grand jury that indicted him. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and issued a Glomar response neither confirming nor denying the existence of records. Mondaca filed an administrative appeal with the Office of Information Policy. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Mondaca filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit - SCHNEIDER ROTHMAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW GROUP, PLLC v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (filed Dec 3, 2018)
The Schneider Rothman Law Group submitted a FOIA request to the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services for records concerning investigations of violations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule by HCA, Inc., Parallon Business Solutions, or any related entities. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Schneider Rothman filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (filed Dec 3, 2018)
The Center for Biological Diversity submitted a FOIA request to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for records concerning the updates to the decision file for the 2008 Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule from 2015 to 2018. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Natural Resources Defense Council et al v. United States Environmental Protection Agency (filed Dec 3, 2018)
The Natural Resources Defense Council submitted a FOIA request to the EPA for records concerning its OMEGA computer model pertaining to calculating costs for automobile manufacturers to comply with fleet-wide levels of greenhouse gas emissions. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, NRDC filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Public Interest Fee Waiver - Informed Consent Action Network v. United States Food and Drug Administration (filed Dec 3, 2018)
The Informed Consent Action Network submitted a FOIA request to the FDA for records concerning clinical trials relied upon by the agency approving the use of influenza vaccines by pregnant women. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and told ICAN that it had no responsive records. ICAN then filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - FRIENDS OF THE EARTH et al v. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (filed Dec 4, 2018)
Friends of the Earth and the Center for Biological Diversity submitted FOIA requests to the EPA for records concerning a series of meetings between EPA officials and staff and outside law firms or companies. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Friends of the Earth and the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - AMERICAN OVERSIGHT v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE et al (filed Dec 4, 2018)
American Oversight submitted FOIA requests to the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, and OMB for records concerning the cost of implementing the family separation policy. The agencies acknowledged receipt of the requests. Justice told AO that its request qualified for unusual circumstances. After hearing nothing further from any of the agencies, AO filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - AMERICAN OVERSIGHT v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY et al (filed Dec 4, 2018)
American Oversight submitted FOIA requests to the Department of Homeland Security and its components for records concerning communications between a list of outside individuals and organizations, as well as members of the Trump administration. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, American Oversight filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index - AMERICAN OVERSIGHT v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Dec 4, 2018)
American Oversight submitted two FOIA requests to the Department of Justice for records concerning communications between the agency and various outside parties. The second request asked for a search of identified keywords. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, American Oversight filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index - AMERICAN OVERSIGHT v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES et al (filed Dec 4, 2018)
American Oversight submitted FOIA requests to the Department of Health and Human Service’s Administration for Children and Families and the Inspector General for records concerning the facilities at which children who were separated at the border from their parents were kept. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, American Oversight filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index - AMERICAN OVERSIGHT v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE et al (filed Dec 4, 2018)
American Oversight submitted FOIA requests to the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security for records concerning emails containing the term “American Academy of Pediatrics” or “AAP.” American Oversight also submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for records concerning guidance on former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ immigration enforcement memos issued in April 2017 and April 2018. The agencies acknowledged receipt of the requests. After hearing nothing further from either agency, American Oversight filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index - Buckovetz v. Department of the Navy (filed Dec 5, 2018)
Dennis Buckovetz submitted a FOIA request to the Department of the Navy for records of emails from the Marine Recruiting Office in San Diego that contained the word “coin.” The Navy acknowledged receipt of the request but closed it because it was a duplicate of Buckovetz’s 2015 request. Buckovetz filed an administrative appeal. The agency upheld the original decision. Buckovetz then filed suit.
Issues: Litigation – Jurisdiction – Failure to State a Claim, Litigation – Recovery of Costs - CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Dec 5, 2018)
The Center for Reproductive Rights submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State for records concerning the agency’s decision not to include reproductive rights in its 2017 human rights report. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, the Center for Reproductive Rights filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index - ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND v. UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (filed Dec 6, 2018)
The Environmental Defense Fund submitted four FOIA requests to the EPA for records concerning, the influence of outside law firms in rewriting regulations, new source compliance standards, the review of repealing the Clean Power Plan, and criteria for heavy-duty glider trucks. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, the Environmental Defense Fund filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit - GRAVES GARRETT, LLC v. UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (filed Dec 6, 2018)
The law firm of Graves Garrett submitted 46 FOIA requests to the EPA for records concerning the Ramazzini Institute. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests, but after the agency either failed to respond to requests or limited the scope of the request, Graves Garrett filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index - PROJECT ON PREDATORY STUDENT LENDING OF THE LEGAL SERVICES CENTER OF HARVARD LAW SCHOOL v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Dec 7, 2018)
In 2016, the Project on Predatory Lending at Harvard Law School submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice for records produced in discovery in DOJ’s lawsuit against Education Management. It eventually responded to the request by denying it entirely under several exemptions. The Project filed new FOIA requests for records concerning how its original FOIA request was processed. The Project also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing nothing further, the Project filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Public Interest Fee Waiver - Quintanilla v. City of Corpus Christi (filed Dec 7, 2018)
Lazaro Quintanilla sued the City of Corpus Christi for failing to disclose records. This is not a FOIA claim.
Issues: FOIA not mentioned
In addition, we have added 2 documents from 2 cases, with earlier filing dates, that have recently appeared on PACER.
- AGUIAR v. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS (filed Nov 30, 2018)
- Rulapaugh v. Calvert County Government (filed Nov 30, 2018)
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