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Case TitleJUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE et al
DistrictDistrict of Columbia
CityWashington, DC
Case Number1:2018cv00667
Date Filed2018-03-23
Date Closed2019-01-31
JudgeJudge James E. Boasberg
PlaintiffJUDICIAL WATCH, INC.
Case DescriptionJudicial Watch submitted FOIA requests to the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development for records concerning funding for the Open Society Foundation-Romania. The agencies acknowledged receipt of the requests, but after hearing nothing further from either agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
Complaint issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy - Search, Litigation - Vaughn index, Litigation - Attorney's fees

DefendantU.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE The Executive Office, Office of the Legal Adviser
DefendantU.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DefendantU.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Documents
Docket
Complaint
Complaint attachment 1
Complaint attachment 2
Complaint attachment 3
Complaint attachment 4
Complaint attachment 5
User-contributed Documents
 
Docket Events (Hide)
Date FiledDoc #Docket Text

2018-03-231COMPLAINT against ALL DEFENDANTS ) ( Filing fee $ 400 receipt number 0090-5386316) filed by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Summons for U.S. Attorney for DC, # 3 Summons for U.S. Attorney General, # 4 Summons for U.S. Department of State, # 5 Summons for U.S. Agency for International Development)(Cotca, Ramona) (Entered: 03/23/2018)
2018-03-232LCvR 7.1 CERTIFICATE OF DISCLOSURE of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interests by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. (Cotca, Ramona) (Entered: 03/23/2018)
2018-03-23Case Assigned to Judge James E. Boasberg. (zmd) (Entered: 03/26/2018)
2018-03-293SUMMONS (4) Issued Electronically as to U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General. (Attachments: # 1 Notice and Consent) (tth) (Entered: 03/29/2018)
2018-04-034RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed as to the United States Attorney. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney on 4/2/2018. ( Answer due for ALL FEDERAL DEFENDANTS by 5/2/2018.), RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed on United States Attorney General. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney General 04/03/18., RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed. U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT served on 4/2/2018; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE served on 4/3/2018 (Attachments: # 1 Summons for U.S. Attorney for DC, # 2 Summons for U.S. Attorney General, # 3 Summons for U.S. Department of State, # 4 Summons for U.S. Agency for International Development)(Cotca, Ramona) (Entered: 04/03/2018)
2018-04-205NOTICE of Appearance by Marina Utgoff Braswell on behalf of U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (Braswell, Marina) (Entered: 04/20/2018)
2018-05-026ANSWER to Complaint by U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE.(Braswell, Marina) (Entered: 05/02/2018)
2018-05-03MINUTE ORDER: The Court ORDERS that the parties shall meet, confer, and submit a joint proposed briefing schedule by May 17, 2018. So ORDERED by Judge James E. Boasberg on 5/3/2018. (lcjeb2) (Entered: 05/03/2018)
2018-05-03Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Proposed Briefing Schedule due by 5/17/2018. (znbn) (Entered: 05/03/2018)
2018-05-177Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Cotca, Ramona) (Entered: 05/17/2018)
2018-05-17MINUTE ORDER: Per the parties' 7 Joint Status Report, the Court ORDERS that: (1) On or before June 15, 2018, USAID will provide a draft search declaration to Plaintiff and the State Department will aim to complete its search; and (2) on or before June 18, 2018, the parties will confer and file a joint status report with a proposed production schedule. So ORDERED by Judge James E. Boasberg on 5/17/2018. (lcjeb2) (Entered: 05/17/2018)
2018-05-17Set/Reset Deadlines: USAID will provide a draft search declaration to Plaintiff and the State Department will aim to complete its search due by 6/15/2018. Joint Status Report due by 6/18/2018. (znbn) (Entered: 05/17/2018)
2018-06-188Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Cotca, Ramona) (Entered: 06/18/2018)
2018-06-19MINUTE ORDER: Per the parties' 8 Joint Status Report, the Court ORDERS that: (1) Defendants shall make an initial production of responsive records to Plaintiff by July 16, 2018, with monthly productions thereafter, if necessary; (2) Defendants shall conduct the supplemental search within two months, or once the technological issue has been resolved with searching the classified email system; and (3) The parties shall file a joint status report by July 26, 2018, notifying the Court on the progress of the search and production, and any other recommendations as appropriate. So ORDERED by Judge James E. Boasberg on 6/19/2018. (lcjeb2) (Entered: 06/19/2018)
2018-06-19Set/Reset Deadlines: Defendants shall make an initial production of responsive records to Plaintiff by 7/16/2018. Joint Status Report due by 7/26/2018. (znbn) (Entered: 06/19/2018)
2018-07-269Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Cotca, Ramona) (Entered: 07/26/2018)
2018-07-27MINUTE ORDER: Per the parties' 9 Joint Status Report, the Court ORDERS that the parties shall file a further joint status report on August 23, 2018 with an update to the Court on the ongoing document production by the Department, and any other recommendations for further proceedings as appropriate. So ORDERED by Judge James E. Boasberg on 7/27/2018. (lcjeb2) (Entered: 07/27/2018)
2018-08-02Set/Reset Deadlines: Further Joint Status Report due by 8/23/2018 (lsj) (Entered: 08/02/2018)
2018-08-2310Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Cotca, Ramona) (Entered: 08/23/2018)
2018-08-23MINUTE ORDER: Per the parties' 10 Joint Status Report, the Court ORDERS that the parties shall file a further joint status report on October 24, 2018 with an update to the Court, and any other recommendations for further proceedings as appropriate. So ORDERED by Judge James E. Boasberg on 8/23/2018. (lcjeb1) (Entered: 08/23/2018)
2018-08-23Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 10/24/2018. (znbn) (Entered: 08/24/2018)
2018-10-2311Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Cotca, Ramona) (Entered: 10/23/2018)
2018-10-23MINUTE ORDER: The Court ADOPTS the parties' 11 Joint Status Report and ORDERS that they shall file a further Joint Status Report by November 30, 2018. So ORDERED by Judge James E. Boasberg on 10/23/2018. (lcjeb2) (Entered: 10/23/2018)
2018-10-23Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 11/30/2018. (znbn) (Entered: 10/23/2018)
2018-11-3012Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Cotca, Ramona) (Entered: 11/30/2018)
2018-11-30MINUTE ORDER: The Court ADOPTS the parties' 12 Joint Status Report and ORDERS that they shall file a further Joint Status Report by January 16, 2019. So ORDERED by Judge James E. Boasberg on 11/30/2018. (lcjeb2) (Entered: 11/30/2018)
2018-11-30Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 1/16/2019. (znbn) (Entered: 11/30/2018)
2019-01-1613Unopposed MOTION to Stay (Defendants' Unopposed Motion to Stay Proceedings in Light of Lapse of Appropriations) by U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Braswell, Marina) (Entered: 01/16/2019)
2019-01-17MINUTE ORDER: The Court ORDERS that Defendants' 13 Motion to Stay is GRANTED, and Defendants shall submit a status report within seven days after funds have been appropriated. So ORDERED by Judge James E. Boasberg on 1/17/2019. (lcjeb2) (Entered: 01/17/2019)
2019-01-3114NOTICE of Appearance by Paul J. Orfanedes on behalf of JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. (Orfanedes, Paul) (Entered: 01/31/2019)
2019-01-3115STIPULATION of Dismissal With Prejudice by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Orfanedes, Paul) (Entered: 01/31/2019)
2019-01-31MINUTE ORDER: Per the parties' 15 Stipulation, the Court ORDERS that the case is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. So ORDERED by Judge James E. Boasberg on 1/31/2019. (lcjeb3) (Entered: 01/31/2019)
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