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Case TitleAMERICAN OVERSIGHT v. U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES
DistrictDistrict of Columbia
CityWashington, DC
Case Number1:2019cv03421
Date Filed2019-11-13
Date Closed2022-12-15
JudgeCircuit Judge Florence Y Pan
PlaintiffAMERICAN OVERSIGHT
Case DescriptionAmerican Oversight submitted four FOIA requests to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for records concerning acting agency head Ken Cuccinelli, including communications, ethics concerns, decision memoranda, political leadership, and messages. American Oversight also submitted a FOIA request for records concerning communications to or from John Zadrozny mentioning Stephen Miller. American Oversight also requested expedited processing. The agency acknowledged receipt of all the requests except for the one pertaining to Zadrozny. After hearing nothing further from the agency pertaining to any of the requests, American Oversight filed suit.
Complaint issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Expedited processing, Adequacy - Search, Litigation - Attorney's fees

DefendantU.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES
Documents
Docket
Complaint
Complaint attachment 1
Complaint attachment 2
Complaint attachment 3
Complaint attachment 4
Complaint attachment 5
Complaint attachment 6
Complaint attachment 7
Complaint attachment 8
Complaint attachment 9
User-contributed Documents
 
Docket Events (Hide)
Date FiledDoc #Docket Text

2019-11-131COMPLAINT against U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES ( Filing fee $ 400 receipt number ADCDC-6558641) filed by AMERICAN OVERSIGHT. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Summons USAO, # 3 Summons U.S. Att'y General, # 4 Summons U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, # 5 Exhibit A, # 6 Exhibit B, # 7 Exhibit C, # 8 Exhibit D, # 9 Exhibit E)(Wood, Hart) (Entered: 11/13/2019)
2019-11-132LCvR 26.1 CERTIFICATE OF DISCLOSURE of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interests by AMERICAN OVERSIGHT (Wood, Hart) (Entered: 11/13/2019)
2019-11-14Case assigned to Judge Carl J. Nichols. (zmc) (Entered: 11/14/2019)
2019-11-143SUMMONS (3) Issued Electronically as to U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General (Attachment: # 1 Notice and Consent)(zmc) (Entered: 11/14/2019)
2019-11-264NOTICE of Appearance by Damon William Taaffe on behalf of U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES (Taaffe, Damon) (Entered: 11/26/2019)
2019-12-065RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed as to the United States Attorney. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney on 11/14/2019. ( Answer due for ALL FEDERAL DEFENDANTS by 12/14/2019.), RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed on United States Attorney General. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney General 11/19/2019., RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed. U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES served on 11/18/2019 (Attachments: # 1 Declaration)(Wood, Hart) (Entered: 12/06/2019)
2019-12-126Consent MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer re 1 Complaint, by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES (Taaffe, Damon) (Entered: 12/12/2019)
2019-12-12MINUTE ORDER. After review of Defendant's 6 Consent Motion for Extension of Time to Respond to Complaint, it is hereby ORDERED that the Motion is GRANTED and that Defendant shall respond to the Complaint on or before December 20, 2019. Signed by Judge Carl J. Nichols on December 12, 2019. (lccjn1) (Entered: 12/12/2019)
2019-12-12Set/Reset Deadlines/Hearings: Answer to Complaint due by 12/20/2019. (zcdw) (Entered: 12/13/2019)
2019-12-207ANSWER to Complaint by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES.(Taaffe, Damon) (Entered: 12/20/2019)
2019-12-20MINUTE ORDER. Before the Court in this Freedom of Information Act case are a Complaint and an Answer. The requirements of Local Civil Rule 16.3 and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f) appear to be inapplicable. It is hereby ORDERED that the Parties shall confer and file a Joint Status Report on or before January 20, 2020. The Joint Status Report shall address: (1) the status of Plaintiff's FOIA request; (2) the anticipated number of documents responsive to Plaintiff's FOIA request; (3) the anticipated date(s) for release of the documents requested by Plaintiff; (4) whether a motion for stay is likely under Open America v. Watergate Special Prosecution Force , 547 F.2d 605 (D.C. Cir. 1976); and (5) whether the Parties anticipate summary judgment briefing and, if so, a proposed briefing schedule. Signed by Judge Carl J. Nichols on December 20, 2019. (lccjn1) (Entered: 12/20/2019)
2019-12-20Set/Reset Deadline: The Parties shall confer and file a Joint Status Report on or before 1/20/2020. (zad) (Entered: 12/20/2019)
2020-01-168Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES. (Taaffe, Damon) (Entered: 01/16/2020)
2020-01-17MINUTE ORDER. In light of the Parties' 8 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the Parties shall file an additional Joint Status Report on or before June 29, 2020. Signed by Judge Carl J. Nichols on January 17, 2020. (lccjn1) (Entered: 01/17/2020)
2020-01-17Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 6/29/2020. (mac) (Entered: 01/17/2020)
2020-04-139NOTICE OF SUBSTITUTION OF COUNSEL by Robert Aaron Caplen on behalf of U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES Substituting for attorney Damon W. Taaffe (Caplen, Robert) (Entered: 04/13/2020)
2020-06-2910Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES. (Caplen, Robert) (Entered: 06/29/2020)
2020-06-30MINUTE ORDER. In light of the Parties' 10 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the Parties shall file an additional Joint Status Report on or before August 5, 2020. Signed by Judge Carl J. Nichols on June 30, 2020. (lccjn1) (Entered: 06/30/2020)
2020-06-30Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 8/5/2020. (zcal) (Entered: 06/30/2020)
2020-08-0511Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES. (Caplen, Robert) (Entered: 08/05/2020)
2020-08-06MINUTE ORDER. In light of the Parties' 11 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the Parties shall file an additional Joint Status Report on or before September 21, 2020. Signed by Judge Carl J. Nichols on August 6, 2020. (lccjn1) (Entered: 08/06/2020)
2020-08-06Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 9/21/2020. (zcal) (Entered: 08/07/2020)
2020-09-2112Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES. (Caplen, Robert) (Entered: 09/21/2020)
2020-09-30MINUTE ORDER. In light of the Parties' 12 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the Parties shall file an additional Joint Status Report on or before October 28, 2020. Signed by Judge Carl J. Nichols on September 30, 2020. (lccjn1) (Entered: 09/30/2020)
2020-09-30Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 10/28/2020. (zcal) (Entered: 09/30/2020)
2020-10-2813Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES. (Caplen, Robert) (Entered: 10/28/2020)
2020-10-30MINUTE ORDER. After review of the Parties' 13 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the Parties shall file an additional joint status report by December 3, 2020. Signed by Judge Carl J. Nichols on October 30, 2020. (lccjn1) (Entered: 10/30/2020)
2020-10-30Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 12/3/2020. (zcal) (Entered: 10/30/2020)
2020-12-0114Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES. (Caplen, Robert) (Entered: 12/01/2020)
2021-01-0615Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES. (Caplen, Robert) (Entered: 01/06/2021)
2021-01-29MINUTE ORDER. After review of the Parties' 15 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the Parties shall file an additional joint status report by February 7, 2021. Signed by Judge Carl J. Nichols on January 29, 2021. (lccjn1) (Entered: 01/29/2021)
2021-01-29Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 2/7/2021. (zcal) (Entered: 01/29/2021)
2021-02-0516Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES. (Caplen, Robert) (Entered: 02/05/2021)
2021-03-03MINUTE ORDER. After review of the Parties' Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the Parties shall file an additional joint status report by March 12, 2021. Signed by Judge Carl J. Nichols on March 3, 2021. (lccjn1) (Entered: 03/03/2021)
2021-03-03Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 3/12/2021. (zcal) (Entered: 03/04/2021)
2021-03-1217Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES. (Caplen, Robert) (Entered: 03/12/2021)
2021-04-1318Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES. (Caplen, Robert) (Entered: 04/13/2021)
2021-05-1319Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES. (Caplen, Robert) (Entered: 05/13/2021)
2021-06-07MINUTE ORDER. After review of the Parties' 19 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the Parties shall file an additional joint status report by June 15, 2021. Signed by Judge Carl J. Nichols on June 7, 2021. (lccjn1) (Entered: 06/07/2021)
2021-06-07Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 6/15/2021. (zcal) (Entered: 06/08/2021)
2021-06-1520Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES. (Caplen, Robert) (Entered: 06/15/2021)
2021-06-23MINUTE ORDER. After review of the Parties' 20 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the Parties shall file an additional joint status report by July 15, 2021. Signed by Judge Carl J. Nichols on June 23, 2021. (lccjn1) (Entered: 06/23/2021)
2021-06-23Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 7/15/2021. (zcal) (Entered: 06/24/2021)
2021-07-1221NOTICE of Appearance by Jeremy S. Simon on behalf of U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES (Simon, Jeremy) (Entered: 07/12/2021)
2021-07-1522Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES. (Simon, Jeremy) (Entered: 07/15/2021)
2021-08-2523Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICAN OVERSIGHT. (Wood, Hart) (Entered: 08/25/2021)
2021-08-26MINUTE ORDER. After review of the Parties' 23 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the Parties shall file an additional joint status report by September 30, 2021. Signed by Judge Carl J. Nichols on August 26, 2021. (lccjn1) (Entered: 08/26/2021)
2021-08-26Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 9/30/2021. (zcal) (Entered: 08/27/2021)
2021-09-3024Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICAN OVERSIGHT. (Wood, Hart) (Entered: 09/30/2021)
2021-10-01Case directly reassigned to Judge Florence Y. Pan. Judge Carl J. Nichols is no longer assigned to the case. (rj) (Entered: 10/01/2021)
2021-10-15MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 24 Joint Status Report, the parties are directed to file another joint status report on or before October 27, 2021. Signed by Judge Florence Y. Pan on 10/15/2021. (lcsw) (Entered: 10/15/2021)
2021-10-15Set/Reset Deadlines/Hearings: Joint Status Report due by 10/27/2021. (zcdw) (Entered: 10/18/2021)
2021-10-2725Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICAN OVERSIGHT. (Wood, Hart) (Entered: 10/27/2021)
2021-10-28MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 25 Joint Status Report, the parties are directed to file another joint status report on or before December 13, 2021. Signed by Judge Florence Y. Pan on 10/28/21. (lcrl) (Entered: 10/28/2021)
2021-10-28Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 12/13/2021. (zacr) (Entered: 10/28/2021)
2021-12-1326Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES. (Simon, Jeremy) (Entered: 12/13/2021)
2021-12-14MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 26 Joint Status Report, the parties are directed to file another joint status report on or before February 3, 2022. Signed by Judge Florence Y. Pan on 12/14/21. (lcrl) (Entered: 12/14/2021)
2021-12-14Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 2/3/2022. (zacr) (Entered: 12/14/2021)
2022-02-0327Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICAN OVERSIGHT. (Wood, Hart) (Entered: 02/03/2022)
2022-02-04MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 27 Joint Status Report, the parties are directed to file another joint status report on or before March 10, 2022. Signed by Judge Florence Y. Pan on 2/4/2022. (lcrl) (Entered: 02/04/2022)
2022-02-04Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 3/10/2022. (zacr) (Entered: 02/04/2022)
2022-03-1028Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICAN OVERSIGHT. (Wood, Hart) (Entered: 03/10/2022)
2022-03-10MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 28 Joint Status Report, the parties are directed to file another joint status report on or before May 10, 2022. Signed by Judge Florence Y. Pan on 3/10/2022. (lcsw) (Entered: 03/10/2022)
2022-03-10Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 5/10/2022. (zacr) (Entered: 03/10/2022)
2022-05-1029Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES. (Simon, Jeremy) (Entered: 05/10/2022)
2022-05-10MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 29 Joint Status Report, the parties are directed to file another joint status report on or before July 14, 2022. Signed by Judge Florence Y. Pan on 5/10/2022. (lcrl) (Entered: 05/10/2022)
2022-05-10Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 7/14/2022. (zacr) (Entered: 05/10/2022)
2022-07-1330Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES. (Caplen, Robert) (Entered: 07/13/2022)
2022-07-14MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 30 Joint Status Report, the parties are directed to file another joint status report on or before September 14, 2022. Signed by Judge Florence Y. Pan on 7/14/22. (lckw) (Entered: 07/14/2022)
2022-07-14Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 9/14/2022. (smc) (Entered: 07/14/2022)
2022-09-1431Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICAN OVERSIGHT. (Wood, Hart) (Entered: 09/14/2022)
2022-09-14MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 31 Joint Status Report, the parties are directed to file another joint status report on or before November 14, 2022. Signed by Judge Florence Y. Pan on 9/14/2022. (lckw) (Entered: 09/14/2022)
2022-09-14Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 11/14/2022. (smc) (Entered: 09/14/2022)
2022-09-23Judge Florence Y. Pan has been elevated to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She is therefore no longer assigned to this case, and this matter has been reassigned to the Calendar Committee, which will oversee it until it is assigned to another district judge. Any questions should be directed to Judge Pan's former deputy clerk, Samantha Calloway, at 202-354-3163 or samantha_calloway@dcd.uscourts.gov. (ztnr) (Entered: 09/23/2022)
2022-11-1432Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICAN OVERSIGHT. (Wood, Hart) (Entered: 11/14/2022)
2022-11-15MINUTE ORDER (paperless) DIRECTING, upon consideration of the parties' 32 Joint Status Report, the parties to file another joint status report by December 14, 2022. Signed by Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell on November 15, 2022. (lcbah1) (Entered: 11/15/2022)
2022-11-15Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 12/14/2022. (smc) (Entered: 11/15/2022)
2022-12-1433Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICAN OVERSIGHT. (Wood, Hart) (Entered: 12/14/2022)
2022-12-1534STIPULATION of Dismissal by U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES. (Caplen, Robert) (Entered: 12/15/2022)
2022-12-16MINUTE ORDER (paperless) DISMISSING this matter, without prejudice, pursuant to the parties' 34 Joint Stipulation of Dismissal and Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(ii). The Clerk of Court is directed to close this case. Signed by Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell on December 16, 2022. (lcbah1) (Entered: 12/16/2022)
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