Court Decisions Overview
Each year the federal courts issue hundreds of decisions in FOIA cases, addressing all aspects of the law. These decisions shape the way the law is interpreted and applied by the many attorneys and access professionals across the government who handle FOIA requests, administrative appeals, and litigation. To aid those professionals, and to facilitate greater understanding of the FOIA overall, OIP posts summaries of FOIA decisions to this website.
Although we have designed these summaries to reflect the key aspects of each decision, by their nature these are summaries only, and such things as internal citations and quotations have been omitted. Our goal is to provide readers with an overview of the cases as they are decided during the year, but for a complete understanding of any given case readers are, of course, encouraged to read it in its entirety.
Using the Court Decisions Page
This website includes decisions decided since January 2013. Summaries of decisions decided between May 2009 and December 2012 are available in the Court Decisions Archive. All decisions are presented chronologically, based on the date of issuance, with the most recent decision appearing first. Each decision is tagged topically with the relevant exemption or procedural consideration addressed.
You can view all decisions tagged with a particular topic or court by using the “Topic” drop down menu. For example, to see all cases where Exemption 5 is addressed, select “Exemption 5.”
You can search through each decision summary for keywords or phrases using the “Keyword Search” feature. For example, to see all cases with a particular term, such as “e-mail” or “affirming,” you can type in the term or phrase to retrieve all court decision summaries where it appears. You can also use this feature to locate decisions from a particular court by searching for the court acronym, such as “D.C. Cir” for all decisions from the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Heritage Found. v. DOJ, No. 23-1854, 2024 WL 3291783 (D.D.C. July 3, 2024) (Friedrich, J.)
Heritage Found. v. DOJ, No. 23-1854, 2024 WL 3291783 (D.D.C. July 3, 2024) (Friedrich, J.)
Re: Request for records concerning investigation of Robert Hunter Biden, the son of President Joseph R. Biden
Disposition: Granting defendant’s motion for partial summary judgment; denying plaintiff’s cross-motion for partial summary judgment
- Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search: First...
Fogg v. IRS, No. 23-1620, 2024 WL 3264151 (8th Cir. July 2, 2024) (Grasz, J.)
Fogg v. IRS, No. 23-1620, 2024 WL 3264151 (8th Cir. July 2, 2024) (Grasz, J.)
Re: Request for terms of tax professional authentication process contained within the Internal Revenue Manual (“IRM”)
Disposition: Affirming district court’s grant of government’s motion for summary judgment
- Exemption 7, Threshold: The Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit holds that “[t]he district court...
Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Rsch. v. VA, No. 22-00559, 2024 WL 3278613 (E.D. Va. July 1, 2024) (Nachmanoff, J.)
Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Rsch. v. VA, No. 22-00559, 2024 WL 3278613 (E.D. Va. July 1, 2024) (Nachmanoff, J.)
Re: Request for records concerning VA’s responses to Senator Grassley’s letters regarding allegations of unethical conduct by certain officials
Disposition: Granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment
- Litigation Considerations, Relief: “[T]he Court finds that...
Louise Trauma Ctr. v. DHS, No. 21-2371, 2024 WL 3251225 (D.D.C. July 1, 2024) (Bates, J.)
Louise Trauma Ctr. v. DHS, No. 21-2371, 2024 WL 3251225 (D.D.C. July 1, 2024) (Bates, J.)
Re: Requests for records concerning training for asylum and FOIA officers, as well as information about a DHS asylum research office
Disposition: Granting in part and denying in part plaintiff’s motion for attorney fees and costs; awarding plaintiff $43,895 in attorney’s fees and costs
- Attorney...
Radar Online LLC v. FBI, No. 17-3956, 2024 WL 3161777 (S.D.N.Y. June 25, 2024) (Gardephe, J.)
Radar Online LLC v. FBI, No. 17-3956, 2024 WL 3161777 (S.D.N.Y. June 25, 2024) (Gardephe, J.)
Re: Request for records concerning FBI’s investigation and prosecution of financier Jeffrey Epstein for child sex trafficking crimes
Disposition: Granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment; denying plaintiffs’ cross-motion for summary judgment
- Exemption 7(A): “[The] Court concludes that...
Mayor & City Council of Baltimore v. ATF, No. 23-3762, 2024 WL 3082271 (D.D.C. June 21, 2024) (Moss, J.)
Mayor & City Council of Baltimore v. ATF, No. 23-3762, 2024 WL 3082271 (D.D.C. June 21, 2024) (Moss, J.)
Re: Request for certain firearm trace records from ATF’s National Tracing Center’s Firearms Tracing System to identify sources of guns recovered from crimes committed in Baltimore
Disposition: Denying third party’s renewed motion to intervene as of right; denying third party’s renewed...
Nat’l Pub. Radio v. U.S. Cent. Command, No. 23-55062, 2024 WL 3066048 (9th Cir. June 20, 2024) (per curiam)
Nat’l Pub. Radio v. U.S. Cent. Command, No. 23-55062, 2024 WL 3066048 (9th Cir. June 20, 2024) (per curiam)
Re: Request for records concerning 2004 friendly-fire incident during Iraq War that resulted in death of two Marines and an Iraqi civilian interpreter, as well as numerous casualties
Disposition: Reversing in part and affirming in part district court’s grant of government’s motion...
Assassination Archives & Rsch. Ctr. v. DOJ, No. 23-5004, 2024 WL 3042700 (D.C. Cir. June 18, 2024) (per curiam)
Assassination Archives & Rsch. Ctr. v. DOJ, No. 23-5004, 2024 WL 3042700 (D.C. Cir. June 18, 2024) (per curiam)
Re: Request for records concerning pre-1960 electronic surveillance activities from the FBI
Disposition: Affirming district court’s grant of government’s motion to dismiss
- Litigation Considerations: The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit relates that “[o]n...
Heineman v. Hinds, No. 23-00448, 2024 WL 3047562 (D. Nev. June 17, 2024) (Dorsey, J.)
Heineman v. Hinds, No. 23-00448, 2024 WL 3047562 (D. Nev. June 17, 2024) (Dorsey, J.)
Re: Request for grand jury documents from plaintiff’s criminal prosecution
Disposition: Granting defendant’s motion to dismiss
- Litigation Considerations, Pleadings: The court finds that, “[a]s the defendants correctly point out, [plaintiff] has targeted the wrong defendants with this lawsuit.” “In...
Malone v. U.S. Pat. & Trademark Off., No. 23-1050, 2024 WL 3030650 (E.D. Va. June 17, 2024) (Hilton, J.)
Malone v. U.S. Pat. & Trademark Off., No. 23-1050, 2024 WL 3030650 (E.D. Va. June 17, 2024) (Hilton, J.)
Re: Request for records concerning paneling procedures for an Inter Partes Review (“IPR”) proceeding that was pending before USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”), as well as request for records concerning information about potential conflicts of interest of the Administrative...