Surveillance
Judicial Watch sued the State Department in federal court for information on its use of the CrowdTangle social media monitoring program to surveil journalists and former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
Read moreFOIA
Confidential Hen Info
A federal court must reexamine evidence in a dispute over whether information about the living conditions of hens on egg farms is confidential and exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, the Ninth Circuit ruled, because the Supreme Court’s ruling in Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media rewrote the definition for the term “confidential.”
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Blackout on Renewable-Energy Study Called Politically Expedient
Accusing the Trump administration of suppressing politically inconvenient research, environmentalists filed suit Thursday to unearth a taxpayer-funded study on the electricity grid.
Read moreRefugee Deaths
NBCUniversal Media sued the Department of Homeland Security in federal court for refusing to release information on at least 13 detainees who died in ICE custody between June 6, 2017 and July 31, 2018.
Read moreParole
Michael Brodheim, a graduate student in public administration, sued the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for information on the racial makeup of prisoners who apply for parole, in San Francisco Superior Court.
Read moreJamal Khashoggi
A federal court in Washington, D.C., ruled in favor of the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies sued by the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Knight First Amendment Institute for records relating to the intelligence community’s “duty to warn” journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered and dismembered inside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul.
Read moreEnvironment
WildEarth Guardians sued the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in federal court for information on its attempt to “consider designating more desert federal public lands in Southern California for energy development.”
Read moreSurface Mining
The Sierra Club sued the Department of the Interior and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement for information whether they consulted with the Fish & Wildlife Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as required, before issuing permits for “highly destructive” surface mining.
Read moreThe Block & Leviton law firm sued the Federal Trade Commission for information on “the $5 billion fine imposed on Facebook” in June, particularly whether “the company’s negotiators unfairly prioritized the interests of Facebook’s controlling stockholder, Mark Zuckerberg, over the interests of the company.
Read moreFBI
Editors of Lawfare sued the FBI in a federal FOIA complaint, for information on allegations of inconsistent discipline of FBI personnel because of their personal views on the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Read moreCalifornia Judge Orders Labor Department to Release Diversity Data Reports
The Department of Labor cannot withhold reports from a journalist with the Center for Investigative Reporting on the race and gender makeup of companies that contract with the federal government, a federal judge in California ruled Tuesday.
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Feds Accused of Stonewalling Media Request for Mueller Records
A lawyer representing CNN in a battle for access to sealed records from the Mueller investigation told a federal judge in Washington on Monday that the Justice Department is intentionally delaying production of the documents.
Read moreNew Records Show Contact Between Pompeo and Giuliani
President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani had multiple phone calls with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo weeks before the ouster of U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, according to State Department records released under court order Friday evening.
Read moreImpeachment FOIAs
Two impeachment-related FOIA complaints were filed Wednesday against the State Department: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wants records on U.S. security assistance and military aid for Ukraine; and the Democracy Forward Foundation wants information on State Department officials’ correspondence about Hunter Biden, both in D.C. Federal Court.
Read moreJudge Rules FBI Cannot Hide Use of Social Media Surveillance Tools
The FBI cannot hide whether it uses powerful surveillance tools to monitor the social media activity of millions of Americans and noncitizens, a federal judge ruled Monday.
Read morePublic Record
The Center For Investigative Reporting sued the U.S. Department of Labor in federal court for records of complaints against the drug rehab company Synanon; it says the Glomar response it received is inadequate.
Read moreRefugees
The Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the Department of Homeland Security in federal court for information on the use of Rapid DNA testing on refuge-seekers entering the United States.
Read moreGag Order
The Kobre & Kim law office sued the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in federal court for information on its allegedly illegal gag order about a $16 million fine against Kraft Foods for manipulating commodities markets.
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