During the month of February 2020 federal district courts saw a total of 63 new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits filed under 5 U.S.C. 552. To place this number in perspective, 63 new filings compares with a monthly average of 74 filings during the last 12 months. This month’s total brought overall FOIA filings on an annual basis for these last 12 months to 886.
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.
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LONG et al v. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE et al and 22 other new FOIA lawsuits, plus case descriptions
We have added 145 documents from 19 FOIA cases filed between March 8, 2020 and March 14, 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.
- LONG et al v. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE et al (filed Mar 11, 2020)
Susan Long and David Burnham, co-directors of the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), submitted requests to the Department of Justice and the EPA for records concerning FOIA requests submitted through FOIA Online from October 2012 through September 2019. The agencies acknowledged receipt of the requests read more…
We have added 9 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between March 8, 2020 and March 14, 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.
- DC 1:2017cv01155 — WHITE COAT WASTE PROJECT v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
- March 10, 2020: MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Judge Emmet G. Sullivan on 3/10/2020. (lcegs3)
At a recent Sunshine Week1 event, a Department of Justice spokesperson claimed that FOIA applicants are now quicker to litigate, then blamed overly-litigious requesters for straining the workloads of FOIA professionals and bogging down ordinary citizens’ FOIA requests. Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Claire Murray stated:
“[T]he work of government FOIA professionals has become even more challenging in the past few years. … [A]n increase in nearly immediate litigation brought by some savvy frequent requesters strains our FOIA officials in their efforts to respond to every request in a timely way. Our FOIA professionals must be commended for redoubling their efforts to serve ordinary citizens while litigation on the part of the well-funded pushes ordinary citizens to the end of the queue.”
TRAC finds the underlying claim to be unsubstantiated and counterfactual. In TRAC’s recent empirical study comparing FOIA lawsuits in 2015 and 2019, TRAC found that not only were requesters not jumping into court immediately, requesters were actually waiting on average six months—a full month longer than they had five years ago—before filing a FOIA lawsuit. The statute provides that agencies need to respond within 20 business days. Additionally, the study documented that the increase in FOIA lawsuits over the five-year period was due to FOIA officials’ failure to respond to requests in a timely manner as required by law.
read more…We have added 143 documents from 16 FOIA cases filed between March 1, 2020 and March 7, 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.
- PUBLIC EMPLOYEES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY v. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (filed Mar 2, 2020)
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility submitted two FOIA requests to the Department of Interior for records concerning a secretarial order on the use of electric bicycles. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests but after hearing nothing further from the agency, PEER filed suit. read more…
We have added 28 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between March 1, 2020 and March 7, 2020. These are associated with 25 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.
- AZ 4:2018cv00454 — Karam v. United States Department of Health and Human Services
- March 2, 2020: ORDERED that Magistrate Judge Ferraro's Report and Recommendation [41] is ADOPTED. Plaintiff's Objection to the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 43) is OVERRULED. Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment [39] is GRANTED. The Clerk of the Court shall enter judgment and close the file in this matter. Signed by Judge Jennifer G Zipps on 03/02/20. (MYE)
We have added 127 documents from 20 FOIA cases filed between February 23, 2020 and February 29, 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.
- KARA-MURZA v. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Feb 25, 2020)
Vladimir Kara-Murza, a prominent pro-democracy activist in Russia who was poisoned while in Russia in 2015 and 2017, submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for records concerning the results of tests the agency conducted on samples of Kara-Murza’s blood in 2018 to determine what had caused his hospitalization in Russia read more…
We have added 10 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between February 23, 2020 and February 29, 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.
- CT 3:2017cv02073 — Protect Our Defenders et al v. Defense et al
- February 28, 2020: ORDER denying [54] Motion for Reconsideration for reasons set forth in the attached Memorandum of Decision. Defendants are ordered to produce all documents that were the subject of the motion for reconsideration within 96 hours under penalty of sanctions. Signed by Judge Vanessa L. Bryant on 02/28/2020. (Diamond, Matthew)
We have added 69 documents from 11 FOIA cases filed between February 16, 2020 and February 22, 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.
- CAMPAIGN FOR ACCOUNTABILITY v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (filed Feb 20, 2020)
The Campaign for Accountability submitted four FOIA requests to the Department of Health and Human Services for records concerning Title X teen pregnancy programs and opposition to those programs. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests but after hearing nothing further from the agency the Campaign for Accountability filed suit read more…
We have added 12 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between February 16, 2020 and February 22, 2020. These are associated with 12 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.
- AZ 2:2019cv04665 — Fair Market Housing Coalition v. United States Department of the Interior
- February 19, 2020: ORDER – IT IS HEREBY ORDERED adopting the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge. (Doc. [10] ) IT IS FURTHER ORDERED dismissing without prejudice the Complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b). (Doc. [1] ) IT IS FURTHER ORDERED directing the Clerk of Court to terminate this case. (See document for complete details). Signed by Senior Judge Stephen M McNamee on 2/19/20. (SLQ)
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