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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 3906

Card v. United States, No. 25-1470, 2025 WL 2622380 (Fed. Cl. Sept. 11, 2025) (Hertling, J.)

Card v. United States, No. 25-1470, 2025 WL 2622380 (Fed. Cl. Sept. 11, 2025) (Hertling, J.)

Re: Several alleged FOIA requests

Disposition:  Dismissing plaintiff’s complaint

  • Litigation Considerations, Pleadings & Jurisdiction:  The court relates that “[t]he plaintiff’s complaint also alleges that multiple Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) requests have been improperly denied.”  The court finds that...

Hoffman v. CBP, No. 20-6427, 2025 WL 2618772 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 10, 2025) (Brody, J.)

Hoffman v. CBP, No. 20-6427, 2025 WL 2618772 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 10, 2025) (Brody, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning communications involving CBP personnel at Eagle Pass Port of Entry

Disposition:  Granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment

  • Litigation Considerations, Evidentiary Showing, Adequacy of Search:  The court relates that “[its] prior Order required the Agency to conduct a revised...

Usher v. DOJ, No. 23-2086, 2025 WL 2603615 (D.D.C. Sept. 9, 2025) (Cobb, J.)

Usher v. DOJ, No. 23-2086, 2025 WL 2603615 (D.D.C. Sept. 9, 2025) (Cobb, J.)

Re:  Request for records concerning plaintiff

Disposition:  Granting plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment

  • Exemption 3:  The court relates that “[t]he Parties’ dispute centers on nine pages of notes that record a cooperating witness’s interview with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).”  “As part of that interview...

Greenspan v. DOT, No. 22-280, 2025 WL 2591784 (D.D.C. Sept. 8, 2025) (Friedrich, J.)

Greenspan v. DOT, No. 22-280, 2025 WL 2591784 (D.D.C. Sept. 8, 2025) (Friedrich, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning oversight by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) of Tesla, Inc. (“Tesla”)

Disposition:  Denying plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment; granting defendant’s cross-motion for summary judgment

  • Exemption 4: The court finds that “NHTSA has adequately shown –...

New Orleans Navy Housing, LLC v. U.S. Dep’t of Navy, No. 25-363, 2025 WL 2589594 (E.D. La. Sept. 8, 2025) (Africk, J.)

New Orleans Navy Housing, LLC v. U.S. Dep’t of Navy, No. 25-363, 2025 WL 2589594 (E.D. La. Sept. 8, 2025) (Africk, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning Military Housing Privatization Initiative

Disposition:  Holding in abeyance defendant’s motion for summary judgment

  • Exemption 5, Attorney Work-Product Privilege & Attorney-Client Privilege:  The court relates that “[t]he Navy invokes the...

Zaid v. DHS, No. 22-1602, 2025 WL 2592221 (D. Md. Sept. 8, 2025) (Chasanow, J.)

Zaid v. DHS, No. 22-1602, 2025 WL 2592221 (D. Md. Sept. 8, 2025) (Chasanow, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning plaintiff’s client

Disposition:  Granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment

  • Exemption 7(A): The court relates that “[p]laintiff first argues that ICE’s Vaughn index falls short of the ‘functional categories’ necessary to claim exemption 7(A), because ICE has provided ‘types’ of...

Nat’l Pub. Radio, Inc. v. U.S. Cent. Command, No. 21-1079, 2025 WL 2588923 (S.D. Cal. Sept. 8, 2025) (Anello, J.)

Nat’l Pub. Radio, Inc. v. U.S. Cent. Command, No. 21-1079, 2025 WL 2588923 (S.D. Cal. Sept. 8, 2025) (Anello, J.)

Re: Request for documents regarding a suspected friendly fire incident that took place in Fallujah, Iraq on April 12, 2004

Disposition:  Granting in part plaintiff’s motion for attorney fees and costs

  • Attorney Fees, Eligibility:  “First, the Court tentatively finds that its order denying...

N.Y. Times Co. v. DOJ, No. 25-562, 2025 WL 2549435 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 4, 2025) (Woods, J.)

N.Y. Times Co. v. DOJ, No. 25-562, 2025 WL 2549435 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 4, 2025) (Woods, J.)

Re: Request for Volume II of Special Counsel Smith’s report

Disposition:  Granting defendant’s motion to dismiss

  • Procedural Requirements, Records Processing Requirement, “Foreseeable Harm” Requirement:  “Because Plaintiffs have failed to establish that Judge Cannon lacked jurisdiction to enter the Permanent...

Project for Priv. & Surveillance Accountability, Inc. v. ODNI, No. 22-2134, 2025 WL 2506561 (D.D.C. Sept. 2, 2025) (Cooper, J.)

Project for Priv. & Surveillance Accountability, Inc. v. ODNI, No. 22-2134, 2025 WL 2506561 (D.D.C. Sept. 2, 2025) (Cooper, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning intelligence community’s purchase of Americans’ private data

Disposition:  Granting in part and denying in part defendant’s motion for summary judgment; denying plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment

  • Exemption 1; Exemption 3:  The court...

Schulze v. USCIS, No. 24-01933, 2025 WL 2531508 (D. Nev. Sept. 2, 2025) (Dorsey, J.)

Schulze v. USCIS, No. 24-01933, 2025 WL 2531508 (D. Nev. Sept. 2, 2025) (Dorsey, J.)

Re: Records concerning plaintiff’s mother

Disposition:  Dismissing plaintiff’s motion for leave to amend his petition for mandamus

  • Litigation Considerations, Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies:  The court finds that “[plaintiff’s] claim is futile [because] he has skipped the required administrative process.” ...