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Aug 16 19

FOIA Activity: 6 New Procedural or Substantive Decisions

by FOIA Project Staff

We have added 6 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between August 4, 2019 and August 10, 2019. These are associated with 6 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.

  1. DC 1:2014cv00317ELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFORMATION CENTER v. DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION

    • August 6, 2019: MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Judge Emmet G. Sullivan on 8/6/2019. (lcegs2)
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Aug 14 19

FOIA Activity: 145 new FOIA court documents, plus case descriptions

by Harry Hammitt

We have added 131 documents from 19 FOIA cases filed between July 28, 2019 and August 3, 2019. 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.

  1. Collins v. United States Government (filed Jul 29, 2019)
    Charlene Collins filed suit against the United States Government for allegedly failing to help her retrieve her funds from her savings account. This is not a FOIA case. read more…
Aug 14 19

FOIA Activity: 13 New Procedural or Substantive Decisions

by FOIA Project Staff

We have added 13 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between July 28, 2019 and August 3, 2019. 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.

  1. CAS 3:2018cv02736Buckovetz v. Department of the Navy

    • July 31, 2019: ORDER. The Motion to Dismiss filed by Defendant Department of the Navy (ECF No. [9] ) is DENIED. The Motion for Leave to File Surreply filed by Plaintiff (ECF No. [12] ) is denied as moot. Signed by Judge William Q. Hayes on 7/31/2019. (All non-registered users served via U.S. Mail Service) (tcf) Modified text and regenerated NEF on 7/31/2019 (tcf). (jao).
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Aug 1 19

June 2019 FOIA Litigation with Five-Year Monthly Trends

by FOIA Project Staff

During the month of June 2019 federal district courts saw a total of 70 new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits filed under 5 U.S.C. 552. To place this number in perspective, 70 new filings compares with a monthly average of 68 filings during the last 12 months. This month’s total brought overall FOIA filings on an annual basis for these last 12 months to 812.

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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Aug 1 19

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND v. UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY and 16 other new FOIA lawsuits

by Harry Hammitt

We have added 61 documents from 9 FOIA cases filed between July 21, 2019 and July 27, 2019. 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.

  1. ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND v. UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (filed Jul 25, 2019)
    The Environmental Defense Fund submitted a FOIA request to the EPA for records concerning a red team/blue team exercise planned by then administrator Scott Pruitt to reevaluate climate change science. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and referred EPA to 1,217 pages of records that had been made available by the agency in response to FOIA requests read more…
Aug 1 19

FOIA Activity: 9 New Procedural or Substantive Decisions

by FOIA Project Staff

We have added 9 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between July 21, 2019 and July 27, 2019. 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.

  1. DC 1:2013cv00729SHAPIRO v. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

    • July 24, 2019: ORDER granting [53] the government's renewed motion for summary judgment; denying [55] plaintiff's renewed cross-motion for summary judgment; and judgment shall be entered for the defendant. Signed by Judge Paul L. Friedman on July 24, 2019. (MA)
    • July 24, 2019: OPINION granting defendant's renewed motion for summary judgment; and denying plaintiff's renewed cross-motion for summary judgment. Final judgment shall be entered for the defendant. An order consistent with this opinion shall issue this same day. Signed by Judge Paul L. Friedman on July 24, 2019. (MA)
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Jul 31 19

FOIA Activity: 104 new FOIA court documents, plus case descriptions

by Harry Hammitt

We have added 102 documents from 17 FOIA cases filed between July 14, 2019 and July 20, 2019. 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.

  1. REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Jul 17, 2019)
    The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State for records concerning a meeting on international religious freedom in which Secretary Mike Pompeo participated. The Reporters Committee also asked for inclusion in the news media fee category. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, the Reporters Committee filed suit read more…
Jul 31 19

FOIA Activity: 7 New Procedural or Substantive Decisions

by FOIA Project Staff

We have added 7 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between July 14, 2019 and July 20, 2019. These are associated with 7 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.

  1. CAE 2:2019cv00415KXTV, LLC v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

    • July 18, 2019: ORDER signed by District Judge John A. Mendez on 7/18/19 GRANTING Defendant USCIS's time to produce the Vaughn index from 7/26/19 until 8/21/19. (Becknal, R)
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Jul 30 19

FOIA Activity: 132 new FOIA court documents, plus case descriptions

by Harry Hammitt

We have added 126 documents from 18 FOIA cases filed between July 7, 2019 and July 13, 2019. 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.

  1. Fair Market Housing Coalition v. United States Department of the Interior (filed Jul 9, 2019)
    The Fair Market Housing Coalition submitted a FOIA request to the Department of the Interior for records concerning communications between former Secretary Ryan Zinke, current Secretary David Bernhardt, and DOI Inspector General Mary Kendall pertaining to a land deal in Whitefish, Montana. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, the Fair Market Housing Coalition filed suit read more…
Jul 30 19

FOIA Activity: 10 New Procedural or Substantive Decisions

by FOIA Project Staff

We have added 10 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between July 7, 2019 and July 13, 2019. These are associated with 9 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.

  1. CO 1:2018cv03065Rocky Mountain Wild, Inc. v. United States Forest Service et al

    • July 12, 2019: ORDER granting [34] Defendant's Expedited Motion for Order Directing Plaintiff to Return or Destroy, and Refrain from Using or Further Disseminating, Inadvertently Produced Documents by Magistrate Judge Michael E. Hegarty on 07/12/2019.(mdave, )
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