Filed Date: March 3, 2017
Case Ongoing
Clearinghouse coding complete
On Mar. 3, 2017, plaintiffs The James Madison Project and Noah Shachtman sued the defendant agencies under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The James Madison Project (JMP) is an organization established "to promote government accountability of reduction of secrecy, as well as [to educate] the public on issues relating to intelligence and national security." Noah Shachtman is the current Editor-in-Chief (Executive Editor at the start of this lawsuit) of news website The Daily Beast.
Plaintiffs sought disclosure of agency records by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as by DHS's subordinate entities: the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Specifically, plaintiffs sought the disclosure of records that would shed light on the degree to which (if at all) the defendant federal agencies were consulted prior and subsequent to the implementation of President Trump's Jan. 27 Executive Order 13769 (EO).
The complaint alleged that on Jan. 31, 2017, plaintiffs submitted a FOIA request to the defendant federal agencies seeking copies of records that memorialize the following:
1. Discussions between defendant agency staff and private/White House staff regarding the legality and implementation of an EO barring entry of foreign nationals based strictly on nationality;
2. Discussions between defendant agency staff and other federal agency staff regarding such an EO;
3. Discussions among defendant agency staff regarding such an EO;
4. Discussions between defendant agency staff and Members of Congress regarding such an EO;
5. Final determinations by defendant agency staff regarding the extent to which such an EO would apply to U.S. citizens with dual citizenship; and
6. Final determinations by defendant agency staff regarding the legality of such an EO.
The complaint further alleged that, to date, plaintiffs had not received a substantive response from any of the defendant agencies, and that plaintiffs had constructively exhausted all required administrative remedies. Plaintiffs sought a disclosure order under FOIA, legal fees, and expedited action.
(That same day, the James Madison Project and staff of Politico also filed another FOIA lawsuit seeking intra- and inter-agency communications relating to communications between DHS's agencies and airlines. That lawsuit is described here.)
On Mar. 3, the case was assigned to Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.
On Mar. 6, 2017, the President rescinded the Jan. 27 EO and replaced it with a narrower one, Executive Order 13780.
On May 8, plaintiffs requested leave to file the first amended complaint. The amended complaint alleged that, on Mar. 24, 2017, plaintiffs submitted a FOIA request to the defendant agencies seeking the same information that they sought in the original Jan. 31 FOIA request, but clarified that the scope of information should encompass both EOs. Plaintiffs specifically asked that the defendant agencies use, but not limit themselves to, the search terms "religious test," "Christian ban," "Jewish ban," and "Muslim ban." Plaintiffs further alleged that, to date, they had not received a substantive response from any of the defendant agencies. Plaintiffs sought a disclosure order under FOIA, legal fees, and expedited action.
On Jun. 16, the parties filed a joint status report noting that all defendant agencies had received and were processing plaintiffs' FOIA requests. The TSA had completed its processing of the request; the parties were not able to provide estimated release dates for the rest of the agencies. On Jul. 21, the parties filed a joint status report indicating that the government had initiated searches for the requested documents, that some responsive materials had already been produced, and that the parties were conferring regarding the remaining documents. On Sept. 5, the parties filed another status report indicating that the government continued to make progress on its searches, and that the parties conferred about the scope of the plaintiffs' request.
On Jan. 19, 2018, the status report noted that DHS was processing approximately 600 potentially responsive records, and 600 others which it would review for responsiveness. The status report of Mar. 20 noted that ICE and USCIS would aim to complete production in the next month, whereas CBP, DHS, and DOJ had longer timeframes to complete production and would continue with monthly releases. Status reports filed in May through November indicated that the agencies were each in various stages of completing the production.
ICE and USCIS had completed production by the Jan. 2019 status report, while TSA had completed its production according to the July 2019 status report. All other agencies are currently in varying stages of production, with status reports due every 60 days.
Though the documents released by the government are not available online, this news article references some of their contents.
The case is ongoing as of June 6, 2020.
Summary Authors
Julie Aust (11/24/2017)
Ava Morgenstern (4/21/2018)
Virginia Weeks (12/1/2018)
Averyn Lee (6/6/2020)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4613605/parties/james-madison-project-v-department-of-justice/
Abbuhl, Joshua Charles (District of Columbia)
Adebonojo, Kenneth A. (District of Columbia)
Andrapalliyal, Vinita (District of Columbia)
Baer, Michael Hendry (District of Columbia)
Beckenhauer, Eric B. (District of Columbia)
Kollar-Kotelly, Colleen (District of Columbia)
Abbuhl, Joshua Charles (District of Columbia)
Adebonojo, Kenneth A. (District of Columbia)
Andrapalliyal, Vinita (District of Columbia)
Baer, Michael Hendry (District of Columbia)
Beckenhauer, Eric B. (District of Columbia)
Bensing, Daniel Edward (District of Columbia)
Bernie, Andrew Marshall (District of Columbia)
Berns, Matthew (District of Columbia)
Berry, Britney (District of Columbia)
Bhattacharyya, Rupa (District of Columbia)
Bickford, James O. (District of Columbia)
Bitran, Eva Lucia (District of Columbia)
Borson, Joseph Evan (District of Columbia)
Borum, Marian L. (District of Columbia)
Braswell, Marina Utgoff (District of Columbia)
Broomhead, Timothy E. (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)
Castellano, Daniel Robert (District of Columbia)
Cirino, Paul (District of Columbia)
Cohen, Bradley Heath (District of Columbia)
Cohen, Jason Todd (District of Columbia)
Coleman, John R. (District of Columbia)
Coles-Huff, Doris Denise (District of Columbia)
Crimm, Nina Bafundo (District of Columbia)
Crowley, Megan Anne (District of Columbia)
Curteman, Dedra Seibel (District of Columbia)
Davis, Kathryn Celia (District of Columbia)
Dearinger, Bryan Scott (District of Columbia)
Desai, Vikas K. (District of Columbia)
Drezner, Michael Leon (District of Columbia)
DURRETT, DEANNA LYNN (District of Columbia)
Edney, Marsha Stelson (District of Columbia)
Elliott, Stephen McCoy (District of Columbia)
Englund, Robert N. (District of Columbia)
Fagan, Shannon L. (District of Columbia)
Farel, Lily Sara (District of Columbia)
Federighi, Carol (District of Columbia)
Feldon, Gary Daniel (District of Columbia)
Field, Brian J. (District of Columbia)
Fields, Rhonda C. (District of Columbia)
Fresco, Leon (District of Columbia)
Fu, Wenqiong (District of Columbia)
Gavoor, Aram A. (District of Columbia)
George, Jodi T. (District of Columbia)
Girdharry, Glenn M. (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)
Hair, Christopher Charles (District of Columbia)
Hammond, Derek S. (District of Columbia)
Harris, Julie Straus (District of Columbia)
Haynes, Fred Elmore (District of Columbia)
Hendry, Melanie Dyani (District of Columbia)
Holland, Liam (District of Columbia)
Holloway, Tammy Allison (District of Columbia)
Horn, Daniel Franklin (District of Columbia)
Hudak, Brian P. (District of Columbia)
Humphreys, Bradley P. (District of Columbia)
Hunt, Joseph H. (District of Columbia)
Hurd, Matthew William (District of Columbia)
Interrante, John G. (District of Columbia)
Johnson, Timothy Andrew (District of Columbia)
Johnson, Wyneva (District of Columbia)
Jones, Sian (District of Columbia)
Josephson, Matthew A. (District of Columbia)
JUSTICE, DEPARTMENT OF (District of Columbia)
Kaplan, Jennifer Beth (District of Columbia)
Kelly, Wynne Patrick (District of Columbia)
Kidwell, Judith A. (District of Columbia)
Kirschner, Adam D. (District of Columbia)
Kishore, Deepthy (District of Columbia)
Kneedler, Jennie Leah (District of Columbia)
Kolsky, Joshua M. (District of Columbia)
Konkoly, Antonia Marie (District of Columbia)
LaCour, Alice Shih (District of Columbia)
Layton, Elisabeth (District of Columbia)
Lee, Jason (District of Columbia)
Lee, Lynn Yuhee (District of Columbia)
Leidenheimer, Robert E. (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)
Luh, James C. (District of Columbia)
Maier, Peter Rolf (District of Columbia)
McBarnette, Andrea (District of Columbia)
McDaniel, Oliver W. (District of Columbia)
Mei, Vesper (District of Columbia)
Meriweather, Robin Michelle (District of Columbia)
Merritt, R. Charlie (District of Columbia)
MERRITT, ROBERT CHARLES (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)
Nestler, Emily B. (District of Columbia)
O'Neill, Sean Ryan (District of Columbia)
Orloff, Serena Maya (District of Columbia)
Parker, Ryan Bradley (District of Columbia)
Patterson, Nicholas J. (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)
Powers, James R. (District of Columbia)
Press, Joshua Samuel (District of Columbia)
Quist, Niels Stefan (District of Columbia)
Raines, Joshua Thomas (District of Columbia)
Readler, Chad Andrew (District of Columbia)
Reuveni, Erez (District of Columbia)
RISNER, SCOTT (District of Columbia)
Rogers, Joshua L. (District of Columbia)
Rosenberg, Brad P. (District of Columbia)
Ross, Carl Ezekiel (District of Columbia)
Sandberg, Justin Michael (District of Columbia)
Schwartz, Benjamin Cory (District of Columbia)
Scott, Olivia R. (District of Columbia)
Seabrook, April Denise (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)
Singer, Sam M. (District of Columbia)
Siple, Adam Christopher (District of Columbia)
Skurnik, Matthew Charles (District of Columbia)
Smith, Caroline A. (District of Columbia)
Snead, Jacqueline E. (District of Columbia)
Snell, Kevin Matthew (District of Columbia)
Sokolower, Heather G. (District of Columbia)
Sowles, Marcia Kay (District of Columbia)
Sroka, Scott Leeson (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)
Swinton, Nathan Michael (District of Columbia)
Taaffe, Damon William (District of Columbia)
Tepe, Sean Michael (District of Columbia)
Tilghman, Michael A. (District of Columbia)
Tosini, Stephen C. (District of Columbia)
Truong, John Cuong (District of Columbia)
Tulis, Elizabeth Murray (District of Columbia)
Tyler, John Russell (District of Columbia)
Valdez, Darrell C. (District of Columbia)
Vanek, Sean Joseph (District of Columbia)
Walker, Johnny Hillary (District of Columbia)
WALL, SHEETUL S (District of Columbia)
Whitaker, Claire M. (District of Columbia)
Wolverton, Caroline Lewis (District of Columbia)
Wyer, Kathryn L. (District of Columbia)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4613605/james-madison-project-v-department-of-justice/
Last updated March 13, 2024, 3:05 a.m.
State / Territory: District of Columbia
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Trump Administration FOIA cases
Key Dates
Filing Date: March 3, 2017
Case Ongoing: Yes
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
The James Madison Project ("JMP") is an organization established in 1998 "to promote government accountability and the reduction of secrecy, as well as [to educate] the public on issues relating to intelligence and national security." Noah Shachtman is the current Executive Editor of The Daily Beast.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Non-profit NON-religious organization
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
U.S. Department of Justice, Federal
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal
U.S. Transportation Security Administration, Federal
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Federal
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Federal
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Federal
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: None Yet / None
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Issues
General:
Discrimination-basis:
National origin discrimination
Type of Facility:
Immigration/Border:
National Origin/Ethnicity: