De La Cruz v. US Department of Justice, Executive Office of US Attorneys
- Vyskocil
- 1:20-cv-09941
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In De La Cruz v. US Department of Justice, Judge Vyskocil granted an adjournment and ordered a joint status letter by July 8, 2021.
Sergio de la Cruz and the U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys; the case schedule was changed, but the FOIA dispute was not decided.
What happened
De La Cruz v. US Department of Justice, Executive Office of US Attorneys concerns Sergio de la Cruz’s request under the Freedom of Information Act for records mentioning him in two government case files. The Government disclosed responsive records on May 21, 2021, and de la Cruz was reviewing them.
The parties asked to postpone the initial pretrial conference while they determined whether further litigation was needed. They explained that ordinary discovery generally does not apply in Freedom of Information Act cases and that disputes over withheld or redacted records would ordinarily be handled through summary-judgment motions.
Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil granted the request. The court ordered the parties to file a joint status letter by July 8, 2021, and adjourned the conference previously scheduled for July 2, 2021.
The detailed version
- De La Cruz v. US Department of Justice, Executive Office of US Attorneys · No. 1:20-cv-09941
- Vyskocil
- May 25, 2021
Background
Sergio de la Cruz brought this action under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a federal law allowing requests for records from federal agencies. He sought records from government case files for two cases identified in the letter as United States v. Grishaj, No. 07 Mj. 1363, and United States v. Grishaj, No. 07 Cr. 1158, that mentioned or referred to him.
The Government disclosed records responsive to de la Cruz’s request on May 21, 2021. The letter states that de la Cruz was reviewing those records when the parties requested additional time.
Request and ruling
The Government, with de la Cruz’s consent, asked to adjourn the upcoming initial pretrial conference. The parties proposed filing a joint status letter by July 8, 2021, reporting on the case’s status and whether further litigation was necessary.
The parties also stated that ordinary discovery does not apply in FOIA cases. If disputes arose over government withholdings or redactions, they said those disputes would be resolved through cross-motions for summary judgment. They therefore proposed that a case-management plan and initial pretrial conference might not be necessary.
Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil granted the request. The order directed the parties to file a joint status letter on or before July 8, 2021, and adjourned the conference previously scheduled for July 2, 2021. The opinion does not resolve whether any records were properly withheld or redacted and does not decide the merits of the FOIA dispute.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.