Case: Schuchardt v. Obama

2:14-cv-00705 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Filed Date: June 2, 2014

Closed Date: March 2, 2020

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Case Summary

On June 2, 2014, a private individual filed this class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The plaintiff sued the National Security Agency under the Declaratory Judgment Act and FISA Title V. The plaintiff alleged violations of his First and Fourth Amendment rights and requested declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief. Specifically, the plaintiff alleged that both metadata and content of his Gmail, Facebook, and Dropbox accounts were compromi…

On June 2, 2014, a private individual filed this class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The plaintiff sued the National Security Agency under the Declaratory Judgment Act and FISA Title V. The plaintiff alleged violations of his First and Fourth Amendment rights and requested declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief. Specifically, the plaintiff alleged that both metadata and content of his Gmail, Facebook, and Dropbox accounts were compromised under the PRISM program as revealed in the documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden to The Guardian in an article published on June 6, 2013.

On December 11, 2014, the NSA filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction and the plaintiff failed in any event to state claims on which relief may be granted. On January 7, 2015, the plaintiff filed a motion for a preliminary injunction with the District Court, requesting that the court bar the NSA from continuing to collect the plaintiff's metadata and content, direct the NSA to destroy the plaintiff's data, and prohibit the NSA from querying the data currently in its possession. On January 8, 2015, Judge Cathy Bisson denied the plaintiff's motion because of the plaintiff's inability to establish sufficient imminent and irreparable harm.

The District Court granted the defendant's motion to dismiss on September 30, 2015. 2015 WL 5732117. The plaintiff appealed the dismissal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The Third Circuit vacated and remanded the case on October 5, 2016, finding that the injuries allegedly sustained by the plaintiff were sufficiently personal to support standing, and that his claim was sufficiently plausible to proceed. Schuchardt v. President of the United States, 839 F.3d 366 (3d Cir. 2016).

A private third party moved to intervene in the case on December 13, 2016, and Judge Bisson denied his motion as frivolous on December 27. The third party appealed on January 27, 2017. The Third Circuit dismissed the appeal for failure to pay the filing fee on February 23, 2017.

On March 15, 2017, the defendants filed a renewed motion to dismiss. The case was administratively closed from March 16, 2017 through July 6, 2017, on the grounds that plaintiff was given an extended amount of time to respond to the motion to dismiss. The plaintiff filed their opposition on July 10. The defendants filed their reply on August 16, 2017.

During this time, The Third Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the appeal of the third party to be reopened, and then dismissed the third party's case on September 6, 2017 for failure to pay the filing fee for the notice of appeal.

On February 4, 2019, the court granted the defendant's renewed motion to dismiss, noting that “they have shown, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the government did not engage in dragnet-type collection activity . . . thereby establishing a plausible claim that Plaintiff’s data was captured.” 2019 WL 426482. The plaintiffs appealed to the Third Circuit on February 12, and the Third Circuit affirmed on March 2, 2020. 802 F. App'x 69. The case is now closed.

Summary Authors

John He (9/27/2015)

Elizabeth Heise (10/13/2018)

Averyn Lee (6/5/2020)

Related Cases

Wikimedia Foundation v. National Security Agency, District of Maryland (2015)

People

For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4528646/parties/schuchardt-v-obama/


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Documents in the Clearinghouse

Document

2:14-cv-00705

Docket [PACER]

April 23, 2020

April 23, 2020

Docket

19-01366

Docket [PACER]

Schuchardt v. President United States

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

April 23, 2020

April 23, 2020

Docket
1

2:14-cv-00705

Civil Complaint

June 2, 2014

June 2, 2014

Complaint
19

2:14-cv-00705

Second Amended Complaint

Nov. 24, 2014

Nov. 24, 2014

Complaint
20

2:14-cv-00705

Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint and Brief in Support of Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint

Dec. 11, 2014

Dec. 11, 2014

Pleading / Motion / Brief
25

2:14-cv-00705

Motion for Preliminary Injunction

Jan. 7, 2015

Jan. 7, 2015

Pleading / Motion / Brief
28

2:14-cv-00705

Memorandum and Order

Sept. 30, 2015

Sept. 30, 2015

Order/Opinion

2015 WL 5732117

003112426786

15-03491

Opinion

Schuchardt v. The President of the United States

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Oct. 5, 2016

Oct. 5, 2016

Order/Opinion

839 F.3d 336

77

2:14-cv-00705

Order

Schuchardt v. Trump

Feb. 4, 2019

Feb. 4, 2019

Order/Opinion
42

2:14-cv-00705

Opinion

Schuchardt v. President of the United States of America

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

April 23, 2020

April 23, 2020

Order/Opinion

802 Fed.Appx. 69

Docket

See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4528646/schuchardt-v-obama/

Last updated Dec. 17, 2024, 8:47 p.m.

Docket sheet not available via the Clearinghouse.

Case Details

State / Territory: Pennsylvania

Case Type(s):

National Security

Special Collection(s):

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -- All Matters

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act—Internet Metadata

Multi-LexSum (in sample)

Key Dates

Filing Date: June 2, 2014

Closing Date: March 2, 2020

Case Ongoing: No

Plaintiffs

Plaintiff Description:

Private individual whose Internet metadata was compromised.

Plaintiff Type(s):

Private Plaintiff

Public Interest Lawyer: Yes

Filed Pro Se: Yes

Class Action Sought: Yes

Class Action Outcome: Mooted before ruling

Defendants

National Security Agency (Washington), Federal

Defendant Type(s):

Jurisdiction-wide

Facility Type(s):

Government-run

Case Details

Causes of Action:

Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201

FISA Title V order (PATRIOT Act § 215, business records or other tangible things), 50 U.S.C. §§ 1861-1862

Constitutional Clause(s):

Unreasonable search and seizure

Freedom of speech/association

Available Documents:

Trial Court Docket

Complaint (any)

Any published opinion

Outcome

Prevailing Party: Defendant

Nature of Relief:

None

Source of Relief:

None

Issues

General/Misc.:

Confidentiality

Records Disclosure

Terrorism/Post 9-11 issues