Humane Soc'y of U.S. v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Serv., No. 18-1301, 2019 WL 2144804 (E.D. Va. May 16, 2019) (O'Grady, J.)

Humane Soc'y of U.S. v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Serv., No. 18-1301, 2019 WL 2144804 (E.D. Va. May 16, 2019) (O'Grady, J.)

Re:  Requests for records concerning African elephant and lion trophy permits

Disposition:  Granting defendant's motions to dismiss

• Litigation Considerations, Mootness & Other Reasons for Dismissal & Proactive Disclosures:  The court finds that "after this litigation had started, Plaintiffs submitted two new FOIA requests seeking copies of all elephant and lion Applications, Permits, and Findings dating back to January 1, 2016."  "In response, Defendants mailed copies of these records to the requestors and posted the records in Defendants' online reading room."  "Because Defendants have complied with Plaintiffs' requests, and because Defendants' actions were motivated by Plaintiffs' FOIA requests submitted during the course of the litigation, this issue is moot and the Court does not possess subject matter jurisdiction over the claim."
   
• Litigation Considerations, Jurisdiction:  Responding to "Plaintiffs request [for] an injunction which would require Defendants to proactively post certain documents in the FWS reading room as the documents are created and issued[,]" the court finds that "[t]his fails to state a claim because § 552(a)(2)(D) does not require agencies to post records on a rolling basis into the future."  The court explains that "[t]he language of the statute itself – particularly the use of the term 'record,' indicates it is referring to information that already exists, not information that will be created in the future."