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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.

View Court Decisions
Displaying 1 - 10 of 4056

Sweigert v. DEA, No. 26-01342, 2026 WL 738742 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 13, 2026) (Taylor Swain, C.J.)

Sweigert v. DEA, No. 26-01342, 2026 WL 738742 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 13, 2026) (Taylor Swain, C.J.)

Re: Request for certain records maintained by DEA

Disposition:  Transferring action to United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

  • Litigation Considerations, Venue: The court relates that “Plaintiff seeks records from the DEA, located in Springfield, Virginia, which is in Fairfax County...

Zakarneh v. USCIS, No. 25-00448, 2026 WL 699894 (D. Or. Mar. 12, 2026) (Beckerman, Mag. J.)

Zakarneh v. USCIS, No. 25-00448, 2026 WL 699894 (D. Or. Mar. 12, 2026) (Beckerman, Mag. J.)

Re: Request for records concerning plaintiff

Disposition:  Granting defendant’s motion to dismiss and for summary judgment

  • Litigation Considerations, Mootness and Other Grounds for Dismissal; Procedural Requirements, Time Limits:  “The Court agrees that [plaintiff’s] claim that USCIS did not timely respond to...

Ananiades v. U.S. Dep’t of the Air Force, No. 23-55669, 2026 WL 700392 (9th Cir. Mar. 12, 2026) (per curiam)

Ananiades v. U.S. Dep’t of the Air Force, No. 23-55669, 2026 WL 700392 (9th Cir. Mar. 12, 2026) (per curiam)

Re: Request for requester’s records

Disposition:  Affirming district court’s grant of defendant’s motion for summary judgment

  • Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search:  The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit finds that “[t]he district court properly granted summary judgment because...

Bennett v. USPS, No. 24-3668, 2026 WL 686128 (D.D.C. Mar. 11, 2026) (Alikhan, J.)

Bennett v. USPS, No. 24-3668, 2026 WL 686128 (D.D.C. Mar. 11, 2026) (Alikhan, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning USPS’s business model

Disposition:  Granting defendant’s motion to dismiss

  • Procedural Requirements, Proper FOIA Requests:  “Because the court agrees that [plaintiff] has not reasonably described the records he requests, the court will dismiss the complaint without reaching the USPS’s...

Foreman v. BOP, No. 24-2087, 2026 WL 682213 (D.D.C. Mar. 11, 2026) (Alikhan, J.)

Foreman v. BOP, No. 24-2087, 2026 WL 682213 (D.D.C. Mar. 11, 2026) (Alikhan, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning plaintiff

Disposition:  Granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment

  • Exemption 6: The court relates that “[t]he parties agree that ‘the only dispute left’ is whether the court should order disclosure of ‘the name of the correctional officer who worked [in] [plaintiff’s] FCI-Milan E...

Jewell v. DHS, No. 24-490, 2026 WL 674342 (W.D. Wis. Mar. 10, 2026) (Conley, J.)

Jewell v. DHS, No. 24-490, 2026 WL 674342 (W.D. Wis. Mar. 10, 2026) (Conley, J.)

Re: Requests for records concerning plaintiff’s criminal conviction

Disposition:  Granting defendants’ motion for summary judgment

  • Procedural Requirements Searching for Responsive Records; Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search:  First, the court finds that “it is undisputed that DHS received plaintiff's request...

Doe v. Dep’t of the Navy, No. 24-3403, 2026 WL 654358 (D.D.C. Mar. 9, 2026) (Alikhan, J.)

Doe v. Dep’t of the Navy, No. 24-3403, 2026 WL 654358 (D.D.C. Mar. 9, 2026) (Alikhan, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning plaintiff

Disposition:  Granting defendant’s motion to dismiss

  • Litigation Considerations, Pleadings:  The court finds that “[plaintiff’s] complaint does not identify the FOIA requests at issue in his claims.”  “While he attaches exhibits containing his requests to his...

Darden v. Municipality of Anchorage, No. 25-00090, 2026 WL 673991 (D. Alaska Mar. 9, 2026) (Gleason, J.)

Darden v. Municipality of Anchorage, No. 25-00090, 2026 WL 673991 (D. Alaska Mar. 9, 2026) (Gleason, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning plaintiff

Disposition:  Dismissing FOIA claim with prejudice

  • Procedural Requirements, Entities Subject to the FOIA:  The court finds that “[t]he FOIA only applies to federal agencies, and none of Defendants are federal agencies.”  “Plaintiff’s suggestion that the...

Am. Sec. Ass’n v. SEC, No. 24-1377, 2026 WL 621432 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 5, 2026) (Merryday, J.)

Am. Sec. Ass’n v. SEC, No. 24-1377, 2026 WL 621432 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 5, 2026) (Merryday, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning penalties, fines, or other sanctions associated with SEC’s recordkeeping sweep initiative

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

  • Exemption 5...

Protect the Public’s Tr. v. USAID, No. 25-333, 2026 WL 632507 (D.D.C. Mar. 6, 2026) (Alikhan, J.)

Protect the Public’s Tr. v. USAID, No. 25-333, 2026 WL 632507 (D.D.C. Mar. 6, 2026) (Alikhan, J.)

Re: Request for certain records concerning funding for Palestinian territories

Disposition:  Granting defendant’s motion to dismiss

  • Procedural Requirements, Proper FOIA Requests:  The court relates that “USAID argues that [plaintiff’s] request ‘effectively asks for all records and communications among an...