We have added 8 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between December 16, 2018 and December 22, 2018. 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 3:2018cv01782 — Cervantes Anguiano v. United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- December 21, 2018: SECOND ORDER RE: CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT. Signed by Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley on 12/21/2018. (ahm, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 12/21/2018)
Note: The FOIA Project wishes to thank Christine Mehta who prepared an initial draft of this report during her time as a Newhouse faculty member at Syracuse University.
A congressional report published in January 2016 found that “FOIA is broken,” and highlighted a culture within the federal government of “unlawful presumption in favor of secrecy when responding to Freedom of Information Act Requests. [1]” The report pointed to government abuse of FOIA exemptions to unlawfully withhold information, excessive fees, and delays in response time from agencies as the key factors in eroding public trust and use of the law. In the face of blatant dismissals of requests for information on the part of federal agencies, often the only channel for remedy is a lawsuit. “Requesters shouldn’t need a lawsuit to get responsive documents,” wrote the authors of the congressional report.
No, they shouldn’t. But they do.
The result is costly. In 2016, the Obama Administration reported it spent $36.2 million defending FOIA-related lawsuits. These costs rose to $40.7 million in FY 2017 – nearly double the level of $22.2 million during FY 2010 [2]. The government’s costs, however, fail to capture the cost to those bringing suits against federal agencies to enforce their right to information under FOIA. The year 2016 marked the 50-year anniversary of FOIA. To commemorate the landmark legislation, ProPublica published the article, “Delayed, Denied, Dismissed: Failures on the FOIA Front.”
Journalist Cezary Podkul wrote in the article, “Short of suing the agency – an expensive proposition that could take years if the agency actively resists and appeals when it loses – I can’t find out. [3]” Podkul’s statement is illustrative of the continued frustration with FOIA, and the reluctance to use the courts to force FOIA compliance.
read more…
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB JOURNALISM INSTITUTE et al v. U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT et al
We have added 88 documents from 13 FOIA cases filed between December 9, 2018 and December 15, 2018. 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.
- NATIONAL PRESS CLUB JOURNALISM INSTITUTE et al v. U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT et al (filed Dec 13, 2018)
Kathy Kiely, Press Freedom Fellow at the National Press Club Journalism Institute, submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Homeland Security for records concerning Emilio Gutierrez Soto, a Mexican journalist who had sought asylum in the U.S. and been denied asylum in 2017, and his son Oscar Gutierrez Soto read more…
We have added 5 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between December 9, 2018 and December 15, 2018. These are associated with 5 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 2:2018cv00431 — (PS) Clavito v. U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs
- December 10, 2018: ORDER DISMISSING CASE signed by Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman on 12/10/18 GRANTING [15] Motion to Dismiss. This action is dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. CASE CLOSED. (Coll, A)
We have added 115 documents from 18 FOIA cases filed between December 2, 2018 and December 8, 2018. 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.
- GIBBONS v. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Dec 5, 2018)
Charles Gibbons, a free-lance journalist, submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for records concerning the International Solidarity Movement from 2001 to the present. Gibbons also requested inclusion in the news media fee category. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, told Gibbons it had located 1,396 potentially responsive pages, denied his request for news media fee status, and charged him $55 read more…
We have added 8 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between December 2, 2018 and December 8, 2018. 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 3:2018cv05621 — Diaz v. San Diego Police Department et al
- December 6, 2018: ORDER DISMISSING ACTION WITHOUT PREJUDICE. Signed by Judge Maxine M. Chesney on December 6, 2018. (mmclc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 12/6/2018) (Additional attachment(s) added on 12/6/2018: # 1 Certificate/Proof of Service) (mllS, COURT STAFF).
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION et al v. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY and 17 other new FOIA lawsuits
We have added 145 documents from 17 FOIA cases filed between November 25, 2018 and December 1, 2018. 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 CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION et al v. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (filed Nov 29, 2018)
The ACLU submitted a FOIA request to the CIA for records concerning the agency’s influence campaign to support the nomination of Gina Haspel by declassifying select documents for the Senate and Haspel’s potential conflict of interest in serving as the declassification authority for records about her actions read more…
We have added 6 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between November 25, 2018 and December 1, 2018. 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.
- CAS 3:2015cv00452 — Smart-Tek Service Solutions Corp. v. United States Internal Revenue Service
- November 26, 2018: ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND DENYING PLAINTIFF'S MOTIOIN FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT re [42] , [43] Signed by Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz on 11/26/2018. (sjm) (sjt).
We have added 55 documents from 6 FOIA cases filed between November 18, 2018 and November 24, 2018. 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.
- Southern Poverty Law Center et al v. United States Department of Justice et al (filed Nov 20, 2018)
The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund submitted FOIA requests to the Department of Justice for records concerning the Change Notice pertaining to prison management and security in housing transgendered individuals. Several DOJ components the Civil Division and the Civil Rights Division told SPLC that they found no responsive records read more…
We have added 4 decisions of a procedural or substantive nature filed between November 18, 2018 and November 24, 2018. These are associated with 4 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 3:2015cv00455 — American Marine, LLC v. United States Internal Revenue Service
- November 20, 2018: ORDER denying [41] Motion for Summary Judgment; granting [45] Motion for Summary Judgment. Signed by Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz on 11/19/2018. (sjm)
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