On September 28, 2017, the New York Times Company filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiff sued the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The plaintiff, represented by private counsel, sought declaratory and injunctive relief as well as attorneys’ fees and costs. The case was assigned to District Judge John G. Koeltl and referred to Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein.

Before bringing this action, the plaintiff had filed a FOIA request seeking records relating to the work of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division on affirmative action under the Trump administration. On August 1, 2017, the plaintiff reported in The New York Times that the DOJ had posted an announcement to the agency’s Civil Rights Division seeking lawyers for a new project involving “investigations and possible litigation related to intentional race-based discrimination in college and university admissions.” The plaintiff claimed that this announcement suggested that President Trump and his administration intended to use DOJ resources to investigate and sue universities over affirmative action admissions policies that allegedly discriminated against white applicants. After their FOIA request was denied, the plaintiff brought this action to obtain an order for the production of agency records from the DOJ and DOE.

According to Charlie Savage of the New York Times' website, these documents were produced in November and December of 2017, after the complaint was filed. The produced DOJ documents and the DOE documents are both available through the same site.

The parties filed a stipulation of voluntary dismissal whereby they agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice. The court accepted the stipulation on January 17, 2018. The case is closed.

Jake Parker - 06/19/2018


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