Case: Leopold v. National Security Agency
1:14-cv-00805 | U.S. District Court for the District of District of Columbia
Filed Date: May 14, 2014
Closed Date: 2017
Clearinghouse coding complete
Case Summary
On May 14, 2014, the plaintiff, a freelance investigative reporter, filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiff sued the National Security Agency (NSA) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The plaintiff, represented by private counsel, alleged that the defendants violated the Freedom of Information Act by improperly withholding records concerning the NSA's collection of metadata of judges within the federal judiciary, failing to conduct an adequate search for such records, and failing to grant his requests for a fee waiver. The plaintiff sought both injunctive relief and damages.
On September 26, 2014, the DOJ and NSA moved for summary judgment. On July 31, 2015, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan granted in part and denied in part defendants' motion for summary judgment. She held that while the defendants made a good faith effort search both their facilities and records systems for the requested information, they "failed to conduct an adequate search and adequately explain the basis of their search in certain limited respects." Judge Chutkan ordered them to search again through NSA directives and the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel's draft legal memoranda. Thus, there were still material issues of fact. 118 F. Supp. 3d 302.
The defendants completed the new searches and subsequently moved again for summary judgment on October 14, 2015. On July 11, 2016, Judge Chutkan denied the defendants' motion, holding that simply asking two senior attorneys in the Office of Legal Counsel whether they were "aware of any projects OLC projects concerning the propriety of surveilling federal or state judges" did not provide a reasonable basis for concluding that OLC was unlikely to possess responsive records. Judge Chutkan further held that the defendants did not establish that it would be unduly burdensome for them to search the emails of departing OLC attorneys for any draft memoranda or opinions concerning such surveillance program. 196 F.Supp.3d 67.
Judge Chutkan directed the parties to submit another status report and scheduling order by October 11, 2016. In August 2016, the parties reported to the Court that they had agreed to new terms under which defendant would search. On October 11, 2016, the parties reported that the search was complete and no documents were gathered. The parties then reported that the only remaining issue to be resolved was payment of plaintiff's attorney's fees and costs.
On January 26, 2017, the parties reported that a tentative settlement agreement was reached regarding plaintiff's attorney's fees and costs– that we know of, there is no public information as to the amount of attorney's fees. The settlement agreement was approved on February 27, 2017 and the Court dismissed the case with prejudice.
Summary Authors
Craig Streit (10/3/2016)
Cade Boland (3/13/2018)
People
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4212725/parties/leopold-v-national-security-agency/
Abbuhl, Joshua Charles (District of Columbia)
Adebonojo, Kenneth A. (District of Columbia)
Anderson, Caroline J. (District of Columbia)
Andrapalliyal, Vinita B. (District of Columbia)
Berman, Julia A. (District of Columbia)
James, Ryan Steven (District of Columbia)
Kelly, Joseph Creed (District of Columbia)
Light, Jeffrey Louis (District of Columbia)
McClanahan, Kelly Brian (District of Columbia)
Pezzoli, Timothy J. (District of Columbia)
Syed, Nabiha (District of Columbia)
Topic, Matthew (District of Columbia)
Abbuhl, Joshua Charles (District of Columbia)
Adebonojo, Kenneth A. (District of Columbia)
Anderson, Caroline J. (District of Columbia)
Andrapalliyal, Vinita B. (District of Columbia)
Berman, Julia A. (District of Columbia)
Berman, Marcia (District of Columbia)
Berns, Matthew Joseph (District of Columbia)
Berry, Britney (District of Columbia)
Bhattacharyya, Rupa (District of Columbia)
Bickford, James O. (District of Columbia)
Borum, Marian L. (District of Columbia)
Braswell, Marina Utgoff (District of Columbia)
Bressler, Steven Y. (District of Columbia)
Broomhead, Timothy E. (District of Columbia)
Brown, Aimee Woodward (District of Columbia)
Bruce, Blanche L. (District of Columbia)
Brudy-Everett, Kristin (District of Columbia)
Bryce, Peter (District of Columbia)
Campbell, Rhonda Lisa (District of Columbia)
Caplen, Robert Aaron (District of Columbia)
Cartier, Nicholas P. (District of Columbia)
Crimm, Nina Bafundo (District of Columbia)
Crowley, Megan Anne (District of Columbia)
Curteman, Dedra Seibel (District of Columbia)
Dearinger, Bryan Scott (District of Columbia)
Desai, Vikas K. (District of Columbia)
Dworkowitz, Gregory Peter (District of Columbia)
Elliott, Stephen McCoy (District of Columbia)
Englund, Robert N. (District of Columbia)
Farel, Lily Sara (District of Columbia)
Federighi, Carol (District of Columbia)
Field, Brian J. (District of Columbia)
Fields, Rhonda C. (District of Columbia)
Folio, Joseph Charles (District of Columbia)
Fu, Wenqiong (District of Columbia)
George, Jodi T. (District of Columbia)
Gilligan, James J. (District of Columbia)
Glass, David Michael (District of Columbia)
Gonzalez-Horowitz, Brenda A. (District of Columbia)
Graham-Oliver, Heather D. (District of Columbia)
Guzman, Javier M. (District of Columbia)
Haas, Alexander Kenneth (District of Columbia)
Hammond, Derek S. (District of Columbia)
Haynes, Fred Elmore (District of Columbia)
Heiman, Julia Alexandra (District of Columbia)
Hudak, Brian P. (District of Columbia)
Hunt, Laura Ann (District of Columbia)
Interrante, John G. (District of Columbia)
Johnson, Wyneva (District of Columbia)
JR., RICHARD MENTZINGER (District of Columbia)
JUSTICE, DEPARTMENT OF (District of Columbia)
Kaplan, Jennifer Beth (District of Columbia)
Kelleher, Diane (District of Columbia)
Kidwell, Judith A. (District of Columbia)
Kneedler, Jennie Leah (District of Columbia)
Kolsky, Joshua M. (District of Columbia)
Layton, Elisabeth (District of Columbia)
Lee, Jennifer Joy (District of Columbia)
Lev, Ori (District of Columbia)
Levin, Scott Douglas (District of Columbia)
Littleton, Judson Owen (District of Columbia)
Lo, Michelle (District of Columbia)
Lopez-Morales, Cesar A. (District of Columbia)
Lowy, Brandon Leigh (District of Columbia)
Luh, James C. (District of Columbia)
Lynch, Jason C. (District of Columbia)
Maier, Peter Rolf (District of Columbia)
McDaniel, Oliver W. (District of Columbia)
Meriweather, Robin Michelle (District of Columbia)
Modlinger, Alan Stuart (District of Columbia)
Molen, Kathleene A. (District of Columbia)
Momeni, Mercedeh (District of Columbia)
Moore, Tamra Tyree (District of Columbia)
Motgi, Anjali (District of Columbia)
Nebeker, William Mark (District of Columbia)
O'Neill, Sean Ryan (District of Columbia)
Parker, Ryan Bradley (District of Columbia)
Patton, Rodney (District of Columbia)
Peterson, Benton Gregory (District of Columbia)
Pezzi, Stephen M. (District of Columbia)
Pfaffenroth, Peter C. (District of Columbia)
Phillips, Heather R. (District of Columbia)
Ponto, Laura R. (District of Columbia)
Posner, Michael Benjamin (District of Columbia)
Powell, Amy E. (District of Columbia)
Quist, Niels Stefan (District of Columbia)
Raines, Joshua Thomas (District of Columbia)
Rosenberg, Brad P. (District of Columbia)
Ross, Carl Ezekiel (District of Columbia)
Schwartz, Benjamin Cory (District of Columbia)
Schwei, Daniel Stephen (District of Columbia)
Seo, Michelle Jean (District of Columbia)
Shapiro, Elizabeth J. (District of Columbia)
Shoaibi, Alexander Daniel (District of Columbia)
Shy, Dionne S. (District of Columbia)
Simon, Jeremy S. (District of Columbia)
Smith, Caroline A. (District of Columbia)
Snead, Jacqueline E. Coleman (District of Columbia)
Soskin, Eric J. (District of Columbia)
Sowles, Marcia Kay (District of Columbia)
Stratton, Mary Elizabeth (District of Columbia)
Subar, Judry Laeb (District of Columbia)
Sur, Indraneel (District of Columbia)
Sus, Nikhel (District of Columbia)
Taaffe, Damon William (District of Columbia)
Theis, John Kenneth (District of Columbia)
Thurston, Robin Frances (District of Columbia)
Tilghman, Michael A. (District of Columbia)
Tyler, John Russell (District of Columbia)
Valdez, Darrell C. (District of Columbia)
Vanek, Sean Joseph (District of Columbia)
Whitaker, Claire M. (District of Columbia)
Whitman, James R. (District of Columbia)
Wilkenfeld, Joshua Ilan (District of Columbia)
WILLIAMS, JENNIFER A. (District of Columbia)
Documents in the Clearinghouse
Docket
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4212725/leopold-v-national-security-agency/
Last updated Aug. 24, 2026, 7:23 p.m.
Docket for: LEOPOLD v. NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY
Case Details
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -- All Matters
Key Dates
Filing Date: May 14, 2014
Closing Date: 2017
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
The plaintiff is a reporter who has written for a number of national publications but at the time the complaint was filed, was a contributor to Al-Jazeera America and an Editor-at-Large for The Public Record.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Federal
National Security Agency
U.S. Department of Justice
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
FOIA (Freedom of Information Act), 5 U.S.C. § 552
Other Dockets:
District of District of Columbia 1:14-cv-00805
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff OR Mixed
Relief Granted:
Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement
Source of Relief:
Form of Settlement:
Issues
General/Misc.:
Case Summary of Leopold v. National Security Agency, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/14684/ (last updated 3/13/2018).