Am. Civil Liberties Union v. DHS, No. 17-0562, 2017 WL 2437607 (W.D. Wash. June 5, 2017) (Lasnik, J.)

Am. Civil Liberties Union v. DHS, No. 17-0562, 2017 WL 2437607 (W.D. Wash. June 5, 2017) (Lasnik, J.)

Re:  Request for records concerning interpretation and implementation of January 27, 2017 Executive Order at international airports

Disposition:  Denying defendant's motion to stay proceedings

• Litigation Considerations:  "The Court finds that this matter should proceed as currently scheduled."  The court relates that "[d]efendants seek to stay this litigation until [its] motion to transfer ["and consolidation of all thirteen actions in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia"] is resolved."  "The Court finds that the balance of relevant factors does not warrant a stay."  "The duplication of effort of which defendants complain does not outweigh plaintiffs' interest in full and timely agency disclosure regarding an issue of on-going national interest."  The court notes that "there is no indication that defendants have initiated a search for, much less produced, responsive documents or claimed any statutory exemptions."  "Plaintiffs' and the public's right to know what the government is up to has already been delayed for more than three months."  "Given the purposes for which FOIA was enacted, an open-ended stay of this litigation would be prejudicial."  The court also finds that, "[w]hile there will undoubtedly be some duplication, defendants have not shown that it would rise to the level of hardship or inequity."  "If defendants are right, the responses and case management proposals throughout the country will be similar, if not identical, and will require little more than a change of caption and formatting to accommodate the various districts in which these cases are pending."