Open Soc'y Just. Initiative v. DOD, No. 20-5096, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 235372 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 15, 2020) (Furman, J.)
Open Soc'y Just. Initiative v. DOD, No. 20-5096, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 235372 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 15, 2020) (Furman, J.)
Re: Requests for records concerning federal government's response to COVID-19 pandemic
Disposition: Ordering "dynamic" processing plan for defendant agencies
- Litigation Considerations: The court relates that "[w]ith [a] Minimum Plan in place, Plaintiff now urges the Court to order Defendants to process at a more accelerated rate." "In particular, Plaintiff requests that the Court order each Defendant listed above to immediately begin processing 2,000 pages of responsive records per month, with one exception [detailed in the opinion]." "As the Court noted on the record during a telephone conference held last month, both sides have compelling arguments." "On the one hand, Plaintiff is correct that the COVID-19 pandemic is an issue of heightened national importance and urgency." "On the other hand, Defendants make a persuasive case that, in light of the pandemic and in-person work restrictions, it is practically impossible to meet Plaintiff's processing demands." "In the Court's view, the proper way to balance these considerations – mindful that, for various reasons (including the fact that at least one vaccine has now been approved for emergency use authorization), the burdens imposed by the pandemic are likely to decline over time – is to require production pursuant to a dynamic plan that begins with the numbers set forth in the Minimum Plan and, unless and until the Court orders otherwise, steadily increases up to (if not beyond) the numbers proposed by Plaintiff."