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Case TitlePRISOLOGY v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS
DistrictDistrict of Columbia
CityWashington, DC
Case Number1:2014cv00969
Date Filed2014-06-08
Date Closed2014-11-17
JudgeJudge Amy Berman Jackson
PlaintiffPRISOLOGY
Case DescriptionPrisology, a non-profit organization that advocates for prison reform, filed suit against the Bureau of Prisons alleging the agency had failed to post a number of categories of records required to be made available electronically by the EFOIA Amendments.
Complaint issues: Affirmative disclosure

DefendantFEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS
AppealD.C. Circuit 15-5003
Documents
Docket
Complaint
Complaint attachment 1
Complaint attachment 2
Complaint attachment 3
Complaint attachment 4
Opinion/Order [14]
FOIA Project Annotation: Judge Amy Berman Jackson has ruled that Prisology, a Texas non-profit organization that advocates for criminal justice reform, does not have standing to bring a FOIA suit charging that the Bureau of Prisons violated the EFOIA provision requiring agencies to make subsection (a)(2) records available by computer telecommunications because it has not shown that it suffered an injury-in-fact from the agency's failure to provide such records electronically. Jackson pointed out that Prisology's claim was that "since FOIA grants a legal right to access the records in question, defendant's interference with that rightâ€"through the refusal to publish those recordsâ€"gives rise to an injury for Article III purposes." But Jackson observed that was insufficient for standing purposes. "Here, plaintiff has failed to point to any injuries sustained, by the organization itself or its members, as a result of defendant's conduct. . .While plaintiff explains in its opposition that it 'accomplishes its mission through various projects, which includes information dissemination to the public via social media and other mediums about criminal justice practices,' it has alleged no facts that would enable a court to conclude that plaintiff has been harmed by defendant's conduct in any concrete or particularized way." Jackson acknowledged the D.C. Circuit's observation that standing in a FOIA suit required only a denial of requested information, but she pointed out that "in that process, it observed that it is a particular request for particular information that confers standing upon a FOIA plaintiff, and that there is no need for proof of further injury caused by the denial of a request. But that language involving the actual denial of a specific request for particular material is not sufficiently broad to cover plaintiff's grievance here about how defendant is complying with the law in general." She concluded that "because plaintiff has failed to assert an actual or imminent particularized injury, it lacks standing to bring this case, and the Court must dismiss plaintiff's FOIA claim." However, in a footnote Jackson provided some suggestions about how a plaintiff like Prisology might show standing. She noted that "the Court agrees that agencies are required by section 552(a)(2) to make certain documents available without any FOIA request. However, the filing of such a requestâ€"and its subsequent denial by the agencyâ€"may provide evidence of the injury suffered by that party relevant to its standing to bring suit."
Issues: Affirmative disclosure, Litigation - Jurisdiction - Standing
User-contributed Documents
 
Docket Events (Hide)
Date FiledDoc #Docket Text

2014-06-081COMPLAINT against FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS ( Filing fee $ 400 receipt number 0090-3740464) filed by Prisology. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Summons FBOP SUMMONS, # 3 Summons US Atty Summons, # 4 Summons Atty General Summons)(Gordon, Jeremy) (Entered: 06/08/2014)
2014-06-09Case Assigned to Judge Amy Berman Jackson. (md, ) (Entered: 06/09/2014)
2014-06-09SUMMONS Not Issued as to FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS, U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney General. (INCORRECT SUMMONS FILED) (md, ) (Entered: 06/12/2014)
2014-06-132NOTICE OF CORRECTED SUMMONS by PRISOLOGY (Attachments: # 1 Summons AG Summons, # 2 Summons US ATTY Summons)(Gordon, Jeremy) (Entered: 06/13/2014)
2014-06-133SUMMONS (3) Issued Electronically as to FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General (jf, ) (Entered: 06/13/2014)
2014-08-054MOTION for Extension of Time to Respond to Complaint by FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Batra, Shuchi) (Entered: 08/05/2014)
2014-08-065RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed as to the United States Attorney. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney on 7/7/2014. Answer due for ALL FEDERAL DEFENDANTS by 8/6/2014. (Gordon, Jeremy) Modified on 8/6/2014 (jf, ). (Entered: 08/06/2014)
2014-08-066RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed. FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS served on 7/3/2014 (Gordon, Jeremy) (Entered: 08/06/2014)
2014-08-067RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed on United States Attorney General. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney General 7/7/2014. (Gordon, Jeremy) (Entered: 08/06/2014)
2014-08-06MINUTE ORDER granting 4 Motion for Extension of Time to Respond to Complaint. It is ORDERED that defendant's answer is now due on or before August 22, 2014. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 8/6/2014. (lcabj1) (Entered: 08/06/2014)
2014-08-06Set/Reset Deadlines: Defendant's Answer to the Complaint is now due by 8/22/2014. (jth) (Entered: 08/06/2014)
2014-08-228MOTION to Dismiss by FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS (Attachments: # 1 Memorandum in Support, # 2 Text of Proposed Order)(Batra, Shuchi) (Entered: 08/22/2014)
2014-09-059Memorandum in opposition to re 8 MOTION to Dismiss filed by PRISOLOGY. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order Proposed Order)(Gordon, Jeremy) (Entered: 09/05/2014)
2014-09-1710Consent MOTION for Extension of Time to File Reply by FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Batra, Shuchi) (Entered: 09/17/2014)
2014-09-18MINUTE ORDER granting 10 Consent Motion for Extension of Time to File Reply. In light of the consent motion, it is ORDERED that defendant's reply in support of its motion to dismiss is now due on or before October 10, 2014. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 9/18/2014. (lcabj1) (Entered: 09/18/2014)
2014-09-19Set/Reset Deadlines: Defendant's Reply in support of its Motion to Dismiss is now due by 10/10/2014. (jth) (Entered: 09/19/2014)
2014-10-1011REPLY to opposition to motion re 8 MOTION to Dismiss filed by FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS. (Batra, Shuchi) (Entered: 10/10/2014)
2014-10-2212NOTICE OF SUBSTITUTION OF COUNSEL by Eric Joseph Young on behalf of All Defendants Substituting for attorney Shuchi Batra (Young, Eric) (Entered: 10/22/2014)
2014-11-1713ORDER granting 8 Motion to Dismiss. See Order for details. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 11/17/2014. (lcabj2) (Entered: 11/17/2014)
2014-11-1714MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 11/17/2014. (lcabj2) (Entered: 11/17/2014)
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by FOIA Project Staff
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