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Case TitleAMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
DistrictDistrict of Columbia
CityWashington, DC
Case Number1:2022cv02850
Date Filed2022-09-20
Date ClosedOpen
JudgeJudge Dabney L. Friedrich
PlaintiffAMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION
Case DescriptionAmerica First Legal Foundation submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice for records concerning the political pressures applied by the Biden administration to confirm judges. AFL also requested expedited processing. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, AFL filed suit.
Complaint issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy - Search, Expedited processing, Litigation - Attorney's fees

DefendantUNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
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
User-contributed Documents
 
Docket Events (Hide)
Date FiledDoc #Docket Text

2022-09-201COMPLAINT against UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ( Filing fee $ 402 receipt number ADCDC-9532833) filed by AMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 B, # 3 C, # 4 D, # 5 E, # 6 Civil Cover Sheet, # 7 Summons Main Justice, # 8 Summons US Attorney's Office)(Ding, Michael) (Entered: 09/20/2022)
2022-09-20Case Assigned to Judge Dabney L. Friedrich. (zsb) (Entered: 09/20/2022)
2022-09-202SUMMONS (1) Issued Electronically as to U.S. Attorney General (Attachment: # 1 Notice and Consent)(zsb) (Entered: 09/20/2022)
2022-09-20NOTICE OF ERROR re 1 Complaint; emailed to michael.ding@aflegal.org, cc'd 1 associated attorneys -- The PDF file you docketed contained errors: 1. Missing summonses-government. When naming a government agent or agency as a defendant, you must supply a summons for each defendant & two additional summonses for the U.S. Attorney & U.S. Attorney General. Please submit using the event Request for Summons to Issue. (zsb, ) (Entered: 09/20/2022)
2022-09-273STANDARD ORDER for Civil Cases. See text for details. Signed by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on September 27, 2022. (lcdlf1) (Entered: 09/27/2022)
2022-09-274REQUEST FOR SUMMONS TO ISSUE filed by AMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION.(Ding, Michael) (Entered: 09/27/2022)
2022-09-275SUMMONS (1) Issued Electronically as to U.S. Attorney. (Attachment: # 1 Notice and Consent)(zed) (Entered: 09/27/2022)
2022-10-046LCvR 26.1 CERTIFICATE OF DISCLOSURE of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interests by AMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION (Ding, Michael) (Entered: 10/04/2022)
2022-11-047RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed as to the United States Attorney. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney on 10/11/2022. Answer due for ALL FEDERAL DEFENDANTS by 11/10/2022. (Attachments: # 1 Supplement USPS Tracking)(Ding, Michael) (Entered: 11/04/2022)
2022-11-048RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed on United States Attorney General. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney General 10/11/2022. (Attachments: # 1 Supplement)(Ding, Michael) (Entered: 11/04/2022)
2022-11-109ANSWER to Complaint by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.(Enlow, Courtney) (Entered: 11/10/2022)
2022-11-10MINUTE ORDER requiring the parties to MEET AND CONFER and file a joint status report proposing a schedule for further proceedings. The status report should address the status of the plaintiff's FOIA request, including the anticipated number of documents responsive to the request and the anticipated date(s) for release of the requested documents. The parties shall file the joint status report on or before December 1, 2022. Signed by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on November 10, 2022. (lcdlf1) (Entered: 11/10/2022)
2022-12-0110Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. (Enlow, Courtney) (Entered: 12/01/2022)
2022-12-02MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 10 Joint Status Report, it is ORDERED that the parties shall file another joint status report on or before February 10, 2023. So Ordered by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on December 2, 2022. (lcdlf1) (Entered: 12/02/2022)
2023-02-1011Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION. (Ding, Michael) (Entered: 02/10/2023)
2023-02-10MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 11 Joint Status Report, it is ORDERED that the parties shall file another joint status report on or before May 19, 2023. So Ordered by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on February 10, 2023. (lcdlf1) (Entered: 02/10/2023)
2023-05-1912Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. (Enlow, Courtney) (Entered: 05/19/2023)
2023-05-22MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 12 Joint Status Report, it is ORDERED that the parties shall file another joint status report on or before June 21, 2023. So Ordered by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on May 22, 2023. (lcdlf1) (Entered: 05/22/2023)
2023-06-2113Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. (Enlow, Courtney) (Entered: 06/21/2023)
2023-06-22MINUTE ORDER. Upon review of the parties' 13 Joint Status Report, the Court will not require the defendant to increase its proposed processing rate at this time. "Courts have broad discretion to determine a reasonable processing rate for a FOIA request." Colbert v. FBI , No. 16-cv-1790, 2018 WL 6299966, at *3 (D.D.C. Sept. 3, 2018). The analysis is informed by "[s]everal factors," including "the size and compelling need of the request compared to others, as well as the effect of the request on the [agency's] ability to review other FOIA requests." Id. The plaintiff has provided no grounds for requiring the defendant to prioritize this case over similar FOIA cases. Consequently, the Court will "defer[] to the agency's release policies" at this time. Id. It is further ORDERED that the parties shall file another joint status report on or before August 9, 2023. So Ordered by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on June 22, 2023. (lcdlf1) (Entered: 06/22/2023)
2023-08-0914Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. (Enlow, Courtney) (Entered: 08/09/2023)
2023-08-10MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 14 Joint Status Report, the parties are ORDERED to file a joint status report on or before October 10, 2023. So Ordered by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on August 10, 2023. (lcdlf1) (Entered: 08/10/2023)
2023-08-10Set/Reset Deadlines: Status Report due by 10/10/2023 (zjch, ) (Entered: 08/11/2023)
2023-10-1015Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. (Lynch, Christopher) (Entered: 10/10/2023)
2023-10-10MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 15 Joint Status Report, it is ORDERED that the parties shall file a joint status report on or before December 12, 2023. So Ordered by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on October 10, 2023. (lcdlf1) (Entered: 10/10/2023)
2023-10-10Set/Reset Deadlines: Status Report due by 12/12/2023 (zjch, ) (Entered: 10/10/2023)
2023-10-1116NOTICE of Appearance by Christopher M. Lynch on behalf of UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (Lynch, Christopher) (Entered: 10/11/2023)
2023-12-1217Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. (Lynch, Christopher) (Entered: 12/12/2023)
2023-12-13MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 17 Status Report, the parties shall submit a joint status report on or before February 13, 2024. So Ordered by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on December 13, 2023. (lcdlf1) (Entered: 12/13/2023)
2023-12-1418NOTICE OF WITHDRAWAL OF APPEARANCE as to UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. Attorney Courtney Danielle Enlow terminated. (Enlow, Courtney) (Entered: 12/14/2023)
2024-02-1219Joint STATUS REPORT by UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. (Lynch, Christopher) (Entered: 02/12/2024)
2024-02-12MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 19 Joint Status Report, the parties shall file a joint status report on or before April 16, 2024. So Ordered by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on February 12, 2024. (lcdlf1) (Entered: 02/12/2024)
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