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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 4048

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...

McCann v. USCIS, No. 22-2502, 2026 WL 621099 (E.D. La. Mar. 5, 2026) (Triche Milazzo, J.)

McCann v. USCIS, No. 22-2502, 2026 WL 621099 (E.D. La. Mar. 5, 2026) (Triche Milazzo, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning defendant’s decision to issue a Notice of Intent to Revoke (“NOIR”) Permanent Resident Status

Disposition:  Supplementing prior order granting in part and denying in part defendant’s motion for summary judgment; now granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment in full

  • Litig...

Skidmore v. U.S. Dep’t of Educ., No. 25-10084, 2026 WL 622850 (E.D. Mich. Mar. 5, 2026) (Michelson, J.)

Skidmore v. U.S. Dep’t of Educ., No. 25-10084, 2026 WL 622850 (E.D. Mich. Mar. 5, 2026) (Michelson, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning plaintiff’s student loans

Disposition:  Denying defendant’s motion to dismiss

  • Litigation Considerations, Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies:  The court finds that “[a]t this time, . . . the FOIA claim will not be dismissed.”  “[T]he Department has failed to act...

Chirinos v. Noem, No. 25-1863, 2026 WL 608732 (E.D. Wis. Mar. 4, 2026) (Joseph, Mag. J.)

Chirinos v. Noem, No. 25-1863, 2026 WL 608732 (E.D. Wis. Mar. 4, 2026) (Joseph, Mag. J.)

Re: Request for plaintiff’s A-File

Disposition:  Denying defendant’s motion to dismiss

  • Litigation Considerations, Summary Judgment:  The court finds that “Defendants’ arguments are better suited for summary judgment.” “[I]t is difficult to see how [plaintiff’s] ‘inadequate search’ claim can be resolved on the...

Jud. Watch, Inc. v. DHS, No. 24-742, 2026 WL 607858 (D.D.C. Mar. 4, 2026) (Chutkan, J.)

Jud. Watch, Inc. v. DHS, No. 24-742, 2026 WL 607858 (D.D.C. Mar. 4, 2026) (Chutkan, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning welding open 114 flood gates in border wall in Arizona

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

  • Litigation Considerations, Evidentiary Showing, Adequacy of Search:  The court holds that “[s]ummary...

Informed Consent Action Network v. FDA, No. 22-3572, 2026 WL 587673 (D.D.C. Mar. 3, 2026) (Kollar-Kotelly, J.)

Informed Consent Action Network v. FDA, No. 22-3572, 2026 WL 587673 (D.D.C. Mar. 3, 2026) (Kollar-Kotelly, J.)

Re: Request for autopsy reports concerning any Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (“VAERS”)-reported deaths following COVID-19 vaccination

Disposition:  Granting defendant’s renewed motion for summary judgment; denying plaintiff’s renewed cross-motion for summary judgment

  • Exemption 6...

Informed Consent Action Network v. NIH, No. 23-926, 2026 WL 585104 (D.D.C. Mar. 3, 2026) (Sooknanan, J.)

Informed Consent Action Network v. NIH, No. 23-926, 2026 WL 585104 (D.D.C. Mar. 3, 2026) (Sooknanan, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning June 2020 removal of early COVID-19 genetic sequencing data from NIH-administered database

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

  • Exemption 6: The court holds that “[t]he Parties dispute...

Slaughter v. Dep’t of the Air Force, No. 24-862, 2026 WL 571249 (D.D.C. Mar. 2, 2026) (Lamberth, J.)

Slaughter v. Dep’t of the Air Force, No. 24-862, 2026 WL 571249 (D.D.C. Mar. 2, 2026) (Lamberth, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning “unidentified aerial phenomena, unidentified aerospace phenomena, unidentified flying objects, and unidentified unmanned aerial systems and vehicles”

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

N.Y. Times Co. v. U.S. Defense Counterintelligence & Security Agency, No. 25-2333, 2026 WL 575357 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 2, 2026) (Cote, S.J.)

N.Y. Times Co. v. U.S. Defense Counterintelligence & Security Agency, No. 25-2333, 2026 WL 575357 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 2, 2026) (Cote, S.J.)

Re: Request for single, two-page document listing any security clearances granted to Elon Musk

Disposition:  Granting defendant’s motion for partial reconsideration; denying plaintiff’s motion for partial reconsideration

  • Litigation Considerations; Exemption 1:     ...