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Case TitleAMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
DistrictDistrict of Columbia
CityWashington, DC
Case Number1:2022cv01898
Date Filed2022-06-30
Date Closed2023-12-19
JudgeJudge Amy Berman Jackson
PlaintiffAMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION
Case DescriptionAmerica First Legal Foundation submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Transportation for records concerning political appointees and their ethics obligations. AFLF also asked for a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, AFLF filed suit.
Complaint issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy - Search, Litigation - Attorney's fees

DefendantU.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
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

2022-06-301COMPLAINT against U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ( Filing fee $ 402 receipt number ADCDC-9343565) filed by AMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A:Transportation Request, # 2 Exhibit B:Acknowledgment Letter, # 3 Exhibit C:Request for Status Update, # 4 Civil Cover Sheet, # 5 Summons)(Field, Brian) (Entered: 06/30/2022)
2022-07-012LCvR 26.1 CERTIFICATE OF DISCLOSURE of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interests by AMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION (Field, Brian) (Entered: 07/01/2022)
2022-07-05Case Assigned to Judge Amy Berman Jackson. (zsb) (Entered: 07/05/2022)
2022-07-073SUMMONS (3) Issued Electronically as to U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General (Attachment: # 1 Notice and Consent)(zsb) (Entered: 07/07/2022)
2022-07-274RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed as to the United States Attorney. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney on 7/7/2022. Answer due for ALL FEDERAL DEFENDANTS by 8/6/2022. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of K. Robinson with Exhibits)(Field, Brian) (Entered: 07/27/2022)
2022-07-275RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION served on 7/18/2022 (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of K. Robinson with Exhibits)(Field, Brian) (Entered: 07/27/2022)
2022-07-276RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed on United States Attorney General. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney General 07/18/2022. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of K. Robinson with Exhibits)(Field, Brian) (Entered: 07/27/2022)
2022-08-087NOTICE of Appearance by Hannah Solomon-Strauss on behalf of U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (Solomon-Strauss, Hannah) (Entered: 08/08/2022)
2022-08-088NOTICE of Appearance by Giselle Barcia on behalf of U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (Barcia, Giselle) (Entered: 08/08/2022)
2022-08-089ANSWER to Complaint by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.(Barcia, Giselle) (Entered: 08/08/2022)
2022-08-0810ORDER. Before the Court in this FOIA case are a complaint and an answer. The requirements of Local Civil Rule 16.3 and Rule 26(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure appear to be inapplicable. Defendant shall file a dispositive motion or, in the alternative, a report setting forth the schedule for the completion of its production of documents to plaintiff, on or before September 6, 2022. See Order for details. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 08/08/2022. (lcabj2) (Entered: 08/08/2022)
2022-08-2511NOTICE OF RELATED CASE by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION. Case related to (Barcia, Giselle) (Main Document 11 replaced on 8/29/2022) (ztth). (Entered: 08/25/2022)
2022-09-02MINUTE ORDER. Plaintiff has filed eleven FOIA cases in this court against eleven different federal government agencies, seeking from each records sufficient to identify 1) all employees who entered a position in the agency as a political appointee since January 20, 2021 or 2) all career employees who were detailed to a position eligible to be filled by a political appointee or to a new position through coordination or consultation with either the White House Liaison or Presidential Personnel Office since January 20, 2021. See Am. First Legal Found. v. U.S. Dep't of Commerce, 1:22-cv-01884-ABJ; Am. First Legal Found. v. U.S. Dep't of Energy, 1:22-cv-01888-RDM; Am. First Legal Found. v. U.S. Dep't of Health & Human Services, 1:22-cv-01895-TSC; Am. First Legal Found. v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Security, 1:22-cv-01896-CJN; Am. First Legal Found. v. U.S. Dep't of State, 1:22-cv-01897-CJN; Am. First Legal Found. v. U.S. Dep't of Transportation, 1:22-cv-01898-ABJ; Am. First Legal Found. v. U.S. Dep't of Treasury, 1:22-cv-01899-TSC; Am. First Legal Found. v. U.S. Dep't of Veterans Affairs, 1:22-cv-01900-ABJ; Am. First Legal Found. v. U.S. Dep't of Education, 1:22-cv-01901-DLF; Am. First Legal Found. v. U.S. Dep't of the Interior, 1:22-cv-01903-BAH; Am. First Legal Found. v. U.S. Dep't of Labor, 1:22-cv-01905-CKK. Plaintiff has filed a notice of related case in each case, asserting that all of the cases are related under Local Civil Rule 40.5. Plaintiff maintains that they raise common issues of fact and law because they involve identical FOIA requests, and will, plaintiff predicts, result in similar document productions and involve similar FOIA exemptions. If the cases were related, Rule 40.5(c)(1) would direct that they be reassigned to the judge with the oldest pending case, which is America First Legal Foundation v. U.S. Department of Commerce, 1:22-cv-01884-ABJ. Upon review of plaintiff's notice of related case, though, the Court concludes that the eleven cases are not related under Local Rule 40.5. While the requests themselves called for the same types of records, that does not mean that litigation involving the agencies' responses will present common issues to be resolved. Summary judgment motions often test the adequacy of the search, and here, the requests were transmitted to eleven different agencies, with their own hiring processes, record keeping systems, and custodians. Each agency's effort to identify and produce documents responsive to plaintiff's request will involve searching the files of different custodians in different locations and on different systems, using terms appropriate to the agency, and the questions presented when each agency announces that the search has been completed will be different. Even the early stages of the litigation, when production schedules are established, will vary from agency to agency depending upon the volume of responsive material and the agency's FOIA resources. Moreover, the legitimacy of any claimed exemptions, another issue that can be litigated on summary judgment, may vary depending upon the mission of the agency, including whether it has a law enforcement function and the volume of classified material essential to its work. In sum, despite the similarity of the requests, it is not apparent now that the facts and law to be considered in determining whether each agency has complied with FOIA will be the same, and the cases will not be reassigned pursuant to Local Rule 40.5. This order does not rule out the possibility that cases could be consolidated in the future for the consideration of a common question of law. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 09/02/2022. (DMK) (Entered: 09/02/2022)
2022-09-0612Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION. (Solomon-Strauss, Hannah) (Entered: 09/06/2022)
2022-09-07MINUTE ORDER. In light of the parties' 12 joint status report, the parties must submit another status report by November 9, 2022. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 09/07/2022. (lcabj2) (Entered: 09/07/2022)
2022-11-0913Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION. (Field, Brian) (Entered: 11/09/2022)
2022-11-11MINUTE ORDER. In light of the parties' 13 joint status report, the parties must submit another status report by December 14, 2022. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 11/11/2022. (lcabj2) (Entered: 11/11/2022)
2022-12-1414Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION. (Barcia, Giselle) (Entered: 12/14/2022)
2022-12-16MINUTE ORDER. In light of the parties' 14 joint status report, the parties must submit another status report by January 20, 2023. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 12/16/2022. (lcabj2) (Entered: 12/16/2022)
2023-01-1615Unopposed MOTION for Extension of Time to File Joint Status Report by AMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION. (Field, Brian) (Entered: 01/16/2023)
2023-01-19MINUTE ORDER granting 15 Motion for Extension of Time. The parties must submit another status report by January 25, 2023. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 01/19/2023. (lcabj2) (Entered: 01/19/2023)
2023-01-2516Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION. (Field, Brian) (Entered: 01/25/2023)
2023-01-26MINUTE ORDER. In light of the parties' 16 joint status report, the parties must submit another status report by March 1, 2023. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 01/26/2023. (lcabj2) (Entered: 01/26/2023)
2023-03-0117Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION. (Barcia, Giselle) (Entered: 03/01/2023)
2023-03-03MINUTE ORDER. In light of the parties' 17 joint status report, the parties must submit another status report by April 6, 2023. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 03/03/2023. (lcabj2) (Entered: 03/03/2023)
2023-04-0618Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION. (Field, Brian) (Entered: 04/06/2023)
2023-04-11MINUTE ORDER. In light of the parties' 18 joint status report, the parties must submit another status report by May 11, 2023. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 04/11/2023. (lcabj2) (Entered: 04/11/2023)
2023-05-1119Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION. (Barcia, Giselle) (Entered: 05/11/2023)
2023-05-15MINUTE ORDER. In light of the parties' 19 joint status report, the parties must submit another status report by June 15, 2023. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 05/15/2023. (lcabj2) (Entered: 05/15/2023)
2023-06-1520Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION. (Field, Brian) (Entered: 06/15/2023)
2023-06-20MINUTE ORDER. In light of the parties' 20 joint status report, the parties must submit another status report by July 20 2023. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 06/20/2023. (lcabj2) (Entered: 06/20/2023)
2023-07-2021Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION. (Barcia, Giselle) (Entered: 07/20/2023)
2023-07-20MINUTE ORDER. In light of the parties' 21 joint status report, the parties must submit another status report by August 25, 2023. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 7/20/23. (DMK) (Entered: 07/20/2023)
2023-08-2522Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION. (Field, Brian) (Entered: 08/25/2023)
2023-08-25MINUTE ORDER. In light of the parties' 22 joint status report, the parties must submit another status report by October 5, 2023. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 08/25/2023. (lcabj2) (Entered: 08/25/2023)
2023-10-0523Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION. (Barcia, Giselle) (Entered: 10/05/2023)
2023-10-06MINUTE ORDER. In light of the parties' 23 joint status report, the parties must submit another status report by November 16, 2023. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 10/06/2023. (lcabj2) (Entered: 10/06/2023)
2023-11-1624Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION. (Field, Brian) (Entered: 11/16/2023)
2023-11-20MINUTE ORDER. In light of the parties' 24 joint status report, the parties must submit another status report by December 14, 2023. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 11/20/2023. (lcabj2) (Entered: 11/20/2023)
2023-12-1425STIPULATION of Dismissal by AMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION. (Field, Brian) (Entered: 12/14/2023)
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