U.S. Department
of Justice
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.
Stevens v. CBP, No. 25-2719, 2026 WL 2056856 (N.D. Ill. July 16, 2026) (Kennelly, J.)
Stevens v. CBP, No. 25-2719, 2026 WL 2056856 (N.D. Ill. July 16, 2026) (Kennelly, J.)
Re: Request for records concerning third party
Disposition: Granting in part and denying in part defendant’s motion for summary judgment; granting in part and denying in part plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment
- Litigation Considerations, Evidentiary Showing, Adequacy of Search: “The Court begins with a...
McCray v. USPS, No. 26-1409, 2026 WL 2127203 (W.D. Pa. July 23, 2026) (Horan, J.)
McCray v. USPS, No. 26-1409, 2026 WL 2127203 (W.D. Pa. July 23, 2026) (Horan, J.)
Re: Request for certain records concerning plaintiff
Disposition: Dismissing plaintiff’s complaint with leave to amend
- Litigation Considerations, Pleadings: The court finds that “[a] review of [Plaintiff’s] allegations shows that Plaintiff has not sufficiently alleged which agency improperly withheld agency records.” ...
Leopold v. CIA, No. 16-1833, 2026 WL 2104007 (D.D.C. July 21, 2026) (Cobb, J.)
Leopold v. CIA, No. 16-1833, 2026 WL 2104007 (D.D.C. July 21, 2026) (Cobb, J.)
Re: Request for records cited in publicly-released Executive Summary of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on the CIA’s rendition, interrogation, and detention program
Disposition: Granting in part and denying in part defendant’s motion for summary judgment; denying plaintiff’s cross-motion for summary...
Hurvich v. USCIS, No. 25-13424, 2026 WL 2098340 (D. Mass. July 21, 2026) (Kelley, J.)
Hurvich v. USCIS, No. 25-13424, 2026 WL 2098340 (D. Mass. July 21, 2026) (Kelley, J.)
Re: Requests for records concerning plaintiff’s client
Disposition: Denying defendant’s motion to dismiss
- Litigation Considerations, Summary Judgment & Evidentiary Showing, Adequacy of Search: The court relates that “Defendant argues that the controversy is moot because it has already searched for and produced all...
Stevens v. HHS, No. 22-5072, 2026 WL 2086047 (N.D. Ill. July 20, 2026) (Kennelly, J.)
Stevens v. HHS, No. 22-5072, 2026 WL 2086047 (N.D. Ill. July 20, 2026) (Kennelly, J.)
Re: Requests for records concerning members of Congress
Disposition: Granting in part defendants’ motion for summary judgment; granting in part plaintiff’s cross-motion for summary judgment
- Litigation Considerations, Evidentiary Showing, Adequacy of Search: First, the court finds that “CBP has met its burden.” ...
Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project v. FBI, No. 23-2112, 2026 WL 2085467 (D.D.C. July 20, 2026) (Howell, J.)
Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project v. FBI, No. 23-2112, 2026 WL 2085467 (D.D.C. July 20, 2026) (Howell, J.)
Re: Request for records concerning third party
Disposition: Denying defendants’ motion for reconsideration of denial of summary judgment; granting plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment
- Exemption 6; Exemption 7(C): The court relates that “Defendants seek reconsideration of this ‘ruling regarding...
Heritage Found. v. DOJ, No. 26-5235, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 21517 (D.C. Cir. July 20, 2026) (per curiam)
Heritage Found. v. DOJ, No. 26-5235, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 21517 (D.C. Cir. July 20, 2026) (per curiam)
Re: Request for transcripts and audio recordings of conversations in 2016 and 2017 between former President Biden and his writing partner Mark Zwonitzer while preparing Biden’s 2017 memoir, later used in Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigatory report
Disposition: Denying former President Biden...
Carey, Jr. v. DOJ, No. 22-1527, 2026 WL 2056903 (D.D.C. July 16, 2026) (Cobb, J.)
Carey, Jr. v. DOJ, No. 22-1527, 2026 WL 2056903 (D.D.C. July 16, 2026) (Cobb, J.)
Re: Request for records concerning plaintiff or plaintiff’s deceased uncle
Disposition: Granting in part and denying in part defendant’s motion for summary judgment
- Litigation Considerations, Summary Judgment: “Because [Plaintiff] no longer ‘tak[es] issue with [DHS’s] decision to withhold or to redact documents,’ the...
Lusk v. Merchant, No. 23-6059, 2026 WL 2023810 (4th Cir. July 14, 2026) (Wynn, J.)
Lusk v. Merchant, No. 23-6059, 2026 WL 2023810 (4th Cir. July 14, 2026) (Wynn, J.)
Re: Request for records concerning incident involving requester
Disposition: Affirming district court’s dismissal of requester’s FOIA claim
- Litigation Considerations, Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies: The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit finds that “[t]he magistrate judge and district court concluded that...
Fitch v. DOJ, No. 26-5138, 2026 WL 2045004 (S.D. Tex. July 14, 2026) (Hittner, J.)
Fitch v. DOJ, No. 26-5138, 2026 WL 2045004 (S.D. Tex. July 14, 2026) (Hittner, J.)
Re: Request for certain attorney log-in records from county jail
Disposition: Dismissing plaintiff’s action without prejudice
- Litigation Considerations: The court relates that “[Plaintiff] is incarcerated, so his action is governed by the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), which was enacted, in part, to prevent...