CA9 on FOIA: Transgender Law Center v. ICE

Transgender Law Center v. ICE

"At the heart of this case is an effort by advocates to learn about the circumstances of an asylum-seeker’s tragic death in federal custody. The Freedom of Information Act exists for just such a purpose—to ensure an informed citizenry, promote official transparency, and provide a check against government impunity. Yet here the advocates’ FOIA requests met first with silence and then with stonewalling; only after the advocates filed suit did the government begin to comply with its statutory obligations. Our task is to discern whether the government’s belated disclosure was “adequate” under FOIA. We conclude that it was not. ... REVERSED, VACATED, and REMANDED."

[Hats off to Irene Lax, Kimberly A. Evans and R. Andrew Free!]