Jean-Baptiste v. DOJ, No. 22-8937, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 196643 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 27, 2022) (Swain, J.) Re: Request for certain records concerning plaintiff Disposition: Transferring case to Eastern District of New York • Litigation Considerations, Venu
Jewell v. U.S. Dep’t of Educ., No. 22-53, 2022 WL 14770584 (D. Vt. Oct. 26, 2022) (Doyle, Mag. J.)
Re: Request for certain records concerning guidance to parents of children with disabilities
Disposition: Denying plaintiff’s motion to transfer venue; denying without prejudice plaintiff’s motion challenging the deficiency of defendant’s search
- Litigation Considerations, Venue: Responding to plaintiff’s “request[] that the Court transfer the case to the District of the District of Columbia,” the court holds that, “[a]lthough Plaintiff has not provided information relevant to [this consideration], [the factors governing transfer] appear to weigh in favor of maintaining this case in the District of Vermont.” “The docket reflects that Plaintiff resides in Vermont and filed the Complaint in this Court.” “DOE represents, and Plaintiff does not appear to contest, that ‘the FOIA requests at issue largely concern records of the Boston office of the Department’s Office for Civil Rights.’” “Therefore, the continuation of this action in Vermont appears to be convenient for Plaintiff.” Additionally, the court finds that “Plaintiff’s conclusory assertion that a Vermont judge is inherently biased is insufficient to warrant transfer.” The court similarly rejects plaintiff’s argument based on “the Court’s alleged unequal treatment of Plaintiff and government counsel.”
- Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search: The court relates that “Plaintiff’s Motion asks the Court to review the adequacy of DOE’s responses – essentially in the manner of a summary judgment proceeding – while the document production is in progress.” “[T]he Court declines to do so both in the interest of judicial efficiency and in the interest of promoting timely responses by DOE to Plaintiff’s FOIA requests.” “To avoid the inefficiencies of piecemeal litigation, the Court does not address at this time the adequacy of DOE’s response to Plaintiff’s FOIA requests.” “As the governing Scheduling Order provides, ‘[o]nce the DOE has responded to all of the FOIA requests at issue in this case, the parties shall confer regarding the need, if any, for further litigation and apprise the Court of the same.’” “If necessary, the Court will hold summary-judgment proceedings upon final completion of the document production.” “Plaintiff will have a full opportunity to object to the DOE’s production at that time.”