We have added 11 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between May 17, 2020 and May 23, 2020. These are associated with 10 FOIA cases pending in federal district court. Note that because there can be delays between the date a decision is made and when it shows up on PACER, this listing includes only decisions that appeared on PACER during this period.
Click on the date to view the full text of the decision. Click on a case title below to view other details for that case, including links to the docket report and complaint.
- DC 1:2016cv02465 — RODRIGUEZ v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
- May 20, 2020: MEMORANDUM OPINION re: [57] Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment. See attached Memorandum Opinion for further details. Signed by Judge Amit P. Mehta on 05/20/2020. (lcapm3)
During the month of April 2020 federal district courts saw a total of 56 new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits filed under 5 U.S.C. 552. To place this number in perspective, 56 new filings compares with a monthly average of 69 filings during the last 12 months. This month’s total brought overall FOIA filings on an annual basis for these last 12 months to 833.
The figure below provides a more detailed view of monthly trends during the past five years. The height of each bar reflects the number of filings in that month. To see the actual filing count mouse over any bar. The superimposed line over the bars is the moving 12-month average. It is computed by adding up the 12 months ending at a given month, and then dividing that total by 12 to obtain the monthly average over this period. Mousing over any bar also shows the calculated result for this moving average for that given month.
read more…
We have added 157 documents from 22 FOIA cases filed between May 10, 2020 and May 16, 2020. Note that there can be delays between the date a case is filed and when it shows up on PACER. If there are filings from this period that have yet to be posted on PACER, this FOIA Project list may not be complete.
Click on a case title below to view details for that case, including links to the associated docket and complaint documents.
- AMERICAN OVERSIGHT v. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION et al (filed May 15, 2020)
American Oversight filed suit against the Centers for Disease Control, challenging its policy of requiring requesters to narrow their requests before the agency would process them constituted an illegal practice or policy that violated FOIA. read more…
We have added 8 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between May 10, 2020 and May 16, 2020. These are associated with 8 FOIA cases pending in federal district court. Note that because there can be delays between the date a decision is made and when it shows up on PACER, this listing includes only decisions that appeared on PACER during this period.
Click on the date to view the full text of the decision. Click on a case title below to view other details for that case, including links to the docket report and complaint.
- CAN 3:2019cv06150 — Ecological Rights Foundation v. United States Air Force
- May 11, 2020: ORDER OF DISMISSAL. Signed by Judge Vince Chhabria on 5/11/2020. (knm, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 5/11/2020)
We have added 102 documents from 16 FOIA cases filed between May 3, 2020 and May 9, 2020. Note that there can be delays between the date a case is filed and when it shows up on PACER. If there are filings from this period that have yet to be posted on PACER, this FOIA Project list may not be complete.
Click on a case title below to view details for that case, including links to the associated docket and complaint documents.
- CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (filed May 6, 2020)
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington submitted FOIA requests to the Department of Education and Department of Housing and Urban Development for records concerning the Urban Revitalization Coalition, a non-profit group founded and operated by supporters of President Trump. CREW sent two requests to the Department of Education pertaining to a cancelled event at Virginia Union University scheduled to honor President Trump on Martin Luther King Day read more…
We have added 12 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between May 3, 2020 and May 9, 2020. These are associated with 11 FOIA cases pending in federal district court. Note that because there can be delays between the date a decision is made and when it shows up on PACER, this listing includes only decisions that appeared on PACER during this period.
Click on the date to view the full text of the decision. Click on a case title below to view other details for that case, including links to the docket report and complaint.
- CAS 3:2018cv02736 — Buckovetz v. Department of the Navy
- May 7, 2020: ORDER Granting [34] Defendant's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction. Signed by Magistrate Judge Mitchell D. Dembin on 5/7/2020. (All non-registered users served via U.S. Mail Service)(mme)
CALLIMACHI v. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY and 7 other new FOIA lawsuits, plus case descriptions
We have added 96 documents from 8 FOIA cases filed between April 26, 2020 and May 2, 2020. Note that there can be delays between the date a case is filed and when it shows up on PACER. If there are filings from this period that have yet to be posted on PACER, this FOIA Project list may not be complete.
Click on a case title below to view details for that case, including links to the associated docket and complaint documents.
- CALLIMACHI v. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (filed Apr 29, 2020)
Rukmini Callimachi, an investigative reporter for the New York Times, submitted six FOIA requests to the CIA for records concerning her stepfather, Mihail Horia Botez. Callimachi’s requests also asked for records on various individuals who had worked in the Romanian communist government. The agency eventually acknowledged receipt of all the requests but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Callimachi filed suit read more…
We have added 15 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between April 26, 2020 and May 2, 2020. These are associated with 13 FOIA cases pending in federal district court. Note that because there can be delays between the date a decision is made and when it shows up on PACER, this listing includes only decisions that appeared on PACER during this period.
Click on the date to view the full text of the decision. Click on a case title below to view other details for that case, including links to the docket report and complaint.
- CAE 2:2019cv02429 — (PS) Graham v. U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security et al
- April 30, 2020: ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan on 4/30/2020 GRANTING [11] Motion for extension of time. Motion to Dismiss [10] Hearing Reset for 6/3/2020 at 10:00 AM in Courtroom 8 (EFB) before Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan. Plaintiff shall file an opposition to the pending motion, or a statement of non-opposition by 5/20/2020. Defendant's reply due by 5/27/2020. The Initial Scheduling Conference is Reset for 8/5/2020 at 10:00 AM in Courtroom 8 (EFB) before Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan.(Reader, L)
WP COMPANY LLC v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE and 11 other new FOIA lawsuits, plus case descriptions
We have added 50 documents from 8 FOIA cases filed between April 19, 2020 and April 25, 2020. Note that there can be delays between the date a case is filed and when it shows up on PACER. If there are filings from this period that have yet to be posted on PACER, this FOIA Project list may not be complete.
Click on a case title below to view details for that case, including links to the associated docket and complaint documents.
- WP COMPANY LLC v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Apr 24, 2020)
The Washington Post submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State for two cables sent from the U.S. Mission in China about former counselor of Environment, Science, Technology and Health Brian “Rick” Switzer’s visit to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The Washington Post also requested expedited processing read more…
We have added 9 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between April 19, 2020 and April 25, 2020. These are associated with 8 FOIA cases pending in federal district court. Note that because there can be delays between the date a decision is made and when it shows up on PACER, this listing includes only decisions that appeared on PACER during this period.
Click on the date to view the full text of the decision. Click on a case title below to view other details for that case, including links to the docket report and complaint.
- CAS 3:2017cv01612 — Reyes v. United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs et al
- April 20, 2020: ORDER Directing Defendants to Lodge Materials for in Camera Review. Defendants shall lodge the materials withheld for in camera review on or before April 30, 2020. Signed by Judge John A. Houston on 4/20/2020. (All non-registered users served via U.S. Mail Service) (tcf)
Recent Tweets
7 days 
30 days 
over 30 days
