Second Circuit Agrees With FOIA Arguments Advanced in Amicus Brief

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently issued a ruling that adopted various arguments advanced in an Amicus Curiae brief that we submitted on behalf of our clients Animal Welfare Institute and Farm Sanctuary. The Second Circuit held that the Freedom of Information Act authorizes courts to require federal agencies to post certain types of information online for the public, instead of merely providing records to an individual requester. On behalf of our clients, we have sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture to compel it to make publicly available various records regarding the enforcement of laws designed to protect humans from unsafe foods by, in part, protecting animals from inhumane conditions. The Second Circuit’s ruling relied in part on our victory before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. Additionally, the Second Circuit adopted our argument that a contrary ruling would inappropriately shift the burden of making records available to the public away from federal agencies and onto organizations such as our clients. You can read the full opinion here.