Glazer v. U.S. Dep’t of State, No. 23-2159, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8210 (C.D. Cal. Jan. 15, 2025) (Wu, J.)

Glazer v. U.S. Dep’t of State, No. 23-2159, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8210 (C.D. Cal. Jan. 15, 2025) (Wu, J.)

Re: Request for certain records concerning Diversity Visas

Disposition:  Tentatively denying plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment

• Litigation Considerations, Preliminary Injunctions:  The court relates that “[plaintiff] now moves for summary judgment seeking a declaration of the parties’ respective rights and duties under the FOIA and a permanent injunction ordering the State Department to produce all responsive records within 45 days of the date of an order.”  The court notes that “[t]he State Department admits that it did not timely comply with its statutory obligation to respond to [plaintiff’s] FOIA Request.”  “As such, it seems evident that [plaintiff] will prevail in establishing that the State Department violated FOIA in this action.”  “However, the Court would find that summary judgment is premature at this juncture.”  “It is undisputed that the State Department has been making monthly productions for the last nine months and estimates completing its response to [plaintiff’s] FOIA Request in June of this year.”  “The State Department has also demonstrated through declarations that (at least since litigation was initiated) it has cooperated with clarifying the nature and scope of the FOIA Request and has made monthly productions that do not appear inconsistent with its workload and processing times for FOIA requests.”  “The State Department also asserts that in June 2025 it will complete the production with a complete Vaughn index, which will allow [plaintiff] to fully assess the production and file a motion for summary judgment that would finally resolve her remaining FOIA claims.”  “Granting summary judgment at this juncture would simply order an (apparently backlogged) federal department to work faster – but would not necessarily foster resolution of any underlying disputes over the withholding of documents.”