Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. DOJ
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
Dissenting opinion filed by Circuit Judge Pillard. Karen LeCraft Henderson, Circuit Judge: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a non-profit advocacy group, seeks to compel the United States Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel to make available all of its formal written opinions, as well as indices of those opinions, under the so-called "reading-room" provision of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552 (a)(2). The district…
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Dissenting opinion filed by Circuit Judge Pillard. Karen LeCraft Henderson, Circuit Judge: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a non-profit advocacy group, seeks to compel the United States Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel to make available all of its formal written opinions, as well as indices of those opinions, under the so-called "reading-room" provision of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552 (a)(2). The district court dismissed CREW's complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, largely based on this…
1DissentPillard, Circuit Judge
It is not certain at this stage how much-if any-of OLC's output might ultimately be subject to disclosure under FOIA's reading-room provision. But "a well-pleaded complaint may proceed even if it strikes a savvy judge that actual proof of ... facts [supporting relief] is improbable, and 'that a recovery is very remote and unlikely.' " Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544 , 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955 , 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (quoting Scheuer v. Rhodes , 416 U.S. 232 , 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683 , 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974) ). The sole issue before us is the threshold question whether CREW has alleged enough…
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