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Court Decisions

Each year the federal courts issue hundreds of decisions in FOIA cases, addressing all aspects of the law.  These decisions shape the way the law is interpreted and applied by the many attorneys and access professionals across the government who handle FOIA requests, administrative appeals, and litigation.  To aid those professionals, and to facilitate greater understanding of the FOIA overall, OIP posts summaries of FOIA decisions to this website.

This website includes decisions decided since May 2009.  That period coincides with the Spring 2009 completion of the most recent edition of the United States Department of Justice Guide to the Freedom of Information Act.

All decisions are presented both chronologically, based on the month of issuance, and topically.  To facilitate their review, each decision is broken down by exemption or procedural element.  Although we have designed these summaries to reflect the key aspects of each decision, by their nature these are summaries only, and such things as internal citations and quotations have been omitted.  Our goal is to provide readers with an overview of the cases as they are decided during the year, but for a complete understanding of any given case readers are, of course, encouraged to read it in its entirety.

View Decisions Chronologically


View  Decisions by Topic
Adequacy of Administrative Record Intervention
Adequacy of Affidavit Jurisdiction
Adequacy of Declarant Litigation Considerations
Adequacy of Search Mandamus Relief
Administrative Procedure Act Mootness
Agency Records Motion for Contempt
Agency Requirements Motion for Reconsideration
Allegations of Bad Faith Motion for Summary Judgment
Allegations of Wrongdoing Motion To Dismiss
Amending the Complaint Motion to Intervene
Appointment of Counsel Motion to Reopen
Attorney Fees Official Acknowledgment
Brady or Jencks Act Open Government Act Amendment
Burden of Proof Procedural
Choice of Format Proper Party Defendant
Common Interest Doctrine Protective Order
Costs Public Acknowledgment
Creating or Authenticating a Record Publication of Regulations
Damages Public Domain
Declarations Reasonably Described Records
Declaratory Record Creation
Delay Referral of Record
Discovery Referral of Request
Discretionary Referral to Special Counsel
Exclusions Remand
Exemption 1 Reprocessing
Exemption 2 Responsiveness
Exemption 3 Reverse FOIA
Exemption 4 Sanctions
Exemption 5 Sealed Documents
Exemption 6 Sealing Orders
Exemption 7 Segregability
Exemption 7A Settlement Agreement
Exemption 7C Standard of Review
Exemption 7D Standing
Exemption 7E Statute of Limitations
Exemption 7F Stay of Proceedings
Exemption 8 Summary Affirmance
Exhaustion Summary Judgment
Expedited Processing Supplemental Order
Fees and Fee Waiver Submitter Notice
Fugitive Disentitlement Doctrine Timeliness
Glomar Validity of Third Party Waiver
In Camera Review Vaughn Index
In Forma Pauperis Status Venue
Injunctive Relief Waiver
   

Updated: February 2013
Training and Outreach
Next Events
February 26-27, 2013
March 20, 2013
For a full list of upcoming events, visit our Key Dates page.
To access DOJ documents that are posted online by OIP, please visit the FOIA Library.
For government-wide FOIA information including how to make a FOIA request to other federal agencies, please visit FOIA.GOV.
General Information Office of Information Policy
 
Leadership
Melanie Ann Pustay
Director
Contact
Office of Information Policy
(202) 514 - FOIA (3642)
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