Tipograph v. DOJ, No. 13-00239, 2015 WL 7566660 (D.D.C. Nov. 24, 2015) (Cooper, J.)

Tipograph v. DOJ, No. 13-00239, 2015 WL 7566660 (D.D.C. Nov. 24, 2015) (Cooper, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning plaintiff's client

Disposition: Granting defendant's motion for summary judgment

• Litigation Considerations, Mootness and Other Grounds for Dismissal:  The court holds that "[b]ecause [plaintiff] alleges that a policy or practice of the FBI will impact her lawful access to information in the future, her claim for prospective declaratory and injunctive relief is not moot simply because the FBI has now provided her with the records to which she is entitled."
   
• Litigation Considerations, Standing:  "The Court concludes that while [plaintiff's] claim has not been mooted by the release of records in this case, she has nonetheless failed to establish that her alleged future injury is sufficiently concrete or imminent to confer standing."  The court finds that "[a]t present, [plaintiff's] claim of future injury remains just that—speculative."  The court finds that "[d]ue to 'the nature of [her] work – representing criminal defendants and activists being surveilled by the FBI,' . . . it is certainly plausible that [plaintiff] will file FOIA requests in the future that could implicate the alleged policy or practice that she challenges here."  "The general statements in her declaration, however, do not 'establish likely future injury that is both concrete and imminent.'"  "She neither asserts that she has any FOIA requests pending that could implicate the alleged FBI policy or practice nor identifies a 'specific FOIA request' that she intends to file 'in the near future.'"  "She claims only that she 'will continue submitting FOIA requests to the FBI for records relating to [her] current and future clients' at some point."