Prison Agency Cleared on Answer to Old FOIA Case

WASHINGTON (CN) - A federal judge ended a 10-year quest by Prison Legal News for documents showing all money the Bureau of Prisons paid "for lawsuits and claims against it."

The initial demand under the Freedom of Information Act had sought documentation on "all funds paid out to claimants/litigants between January 1, 1996, through and including July 31, 2003."

Prison Legal News wanted "a copy of the verdict, settlement or claim in each case showing the dollar amount paid, the identity of the plaintiff/claimant and the legal identifying information for each lawsuit or claim or attorney fee award."

It also wanted "a copy of the complaint (if it was a lawsuit) or the claim (if it was not) in each incident which describes the underlying facts of each lawsuit and claim." (Parentheses in original.)

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton granted the bureau summary judgment Tuesday as to redactions in the 102 documents that remained at issue.

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