\

1

LATHAM WATKINSLLP

2 Susan

S

Azad CA BarNo. 145471)

susan.azad@lw.

om

3 Natasha

I.

Rieger CA Bar No. 258263)

natasha. rieger@lw.

om

4 Victor Leung CA Bar No. 268590)

victor.leung@lw.

om

5 Thomas Alcorn CA Bar No. 287688)

thomas. alcorn@lw. com

6 355 South Grand Avenue

7 8

Los Angeles, California 90071-1560 Telephone: 213) 485-1234 Facsimile: 213) 891-8763 Attorneys for Plaintiff 9 AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION OF SOUTHERN

10

CALIFORNIA

i

\

11

12

13

14

15

UNITED STATES

DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT

OF

CALIFORNIA WESTERN

DIVISION

16

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION OF

17

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA,

18

Plaintiff

19 v

20 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT

21

OF

JUSTICE, OFFICE

OF

THE SOLICITOR GENERAL, and 22 EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR

23

IMMIGRATION REVIEW, 24 25 Defendants. 26

27r ~

28

~WJ

3 04

55

~o

COMPLAINT

FOR

INJUNCTIVE

RELIEF

FOR

VIOLATION

OF THE FREEDOM OF

INFORMATION

ACT, 5 U.S.C.

§

552

LATHAM&WATKIN5 '

LA\3175047

COMPLAINT

LOS

ANGELES

ATTORNEYS AT

LAW

1

 

 2

3

1

I

INTRODUCTION

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation

of

Southern California ( Plaintiff') brings this action under the Freedom

of

Information Act 4 (the FOIA ),

5

U.S.C.

§

552, for injunctive and other appropriate relief to enforce

5

its right to agency records from two components, the Executive Office for 6 Immigration Review (the EOIR ) and the Office

of

the Solicitor General (the

7

OSG ),

of

the United States Department

of

Justice (the DOJ ) (collectively, 8 Defendants ).

9

2.

On

March 15, 2012, Plaintiff submitted a

FOIA

request to Defendant 10 EOIR and to Defendant OSG seeking any and all records relating to

or

concerning the basis for the government's assertions to the United States Supreme Court in its

12

brief

in

Demore

v

Kim

538 U.S. 510 (2003) regarding the average time taken to

13

complete removal proceedings and appeals for individuals detained pursuant to 8 14 U.S.C.

§

1226(c) (the Request )

A

true and correct copy

of

the Request is

15

attached as Exhibit A). Defendants EOIR and OSG acknowledged receipt

of

the 16 Request in letters dated March 22, 2012 and

April18,

2012 respectively. Although 17 more than a year has elapsed, Defendants have issued

no

further response to the

18

Request. 19

3.

20 Plaintiff now asks this Court to order Defendants to immediately process all records responsive to the Request and to enjoin Defendants from

21

charging Plaintiff fees for processing the Request.

22

23 24 25 4.

II

JURISDICTION

AND

VENUE

This Court has subject matter over this action and personal jurisdiction over the parties pursuant to

5

U.S. C.

§

552(a)(4)(B). This Court also 26 has subject matter jurisdiction over this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331.

27

5

Venue is proper in this district under

5

U.S.C.

§

552(a)(4)(B) and 28 28

LATHAM•WATKINSm

LA\3175047

COMPLAINT

LOS ANGELES

2

TTORNEYS

AT LAW

 

 

1 U.S.C. § 1391(e).

3

III.

P RTIES

4 6.

Plaintiff

is a statewide, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization

of

over

5 40,000 members that is dedicated to

the

preservation

of

civil liberties

and

civil 6 rights.

Plaintiff

has litigated a

number

of

immigrants rights cases as

part

of

its 7 overall mission

of

litigation and advocacy to ensure immigrants rights.

Plaintiff

8 maintains

an

enduring interest in protecting the due process rights

of

immigrants 9

and

educating the public about

governmentpolicies

involving

the

detention and 10 deportation

of

non-citizens. 7. Defendant

DOJ

is a department

of

the executive

branch

of

the United 12 States government

and

is

an

agency within

the

meaning

of5

U.S.C.

§

552(±)(1).

3

8. Defendant

OSG

is a component

of

Defendant DOJ.

It

conducts and 14 supervises government litigation in the United States Supreme Court. 15 9. Defendant

EOIR

is a component

ofDefendant

DOJ.

One

of

its 16 functions

is

to adjudicate immigration court proceedings

and

cases. 17 10. The

Request

seeks records from

both

Defendant

OSG and

Defendant 18 EOIR,

and both

Defendants are responsible for complying

with

the

Request

19

pursuant to

5 U.S. C. § 552(a)(3). 20

IV.

2

ST TUTORY FR MEWORK

22

11.

The

FOIA, 5 U.S.C. § 552, mandates disclosure

of

records

held

by

a 23 federal agency in response to a request for such records

by

a

member

of

the

public

24

unless the requested records fall within certain

narrow

statutory exemptions. 25 12. The basic purpose

of

the

FOIA

is to enable the public to

hold

the

26

government accountable for its actions

by

fostering transparency and public

27

scrutiny

of

governmental operations

and

activities. Through access

to

government 28 information, the

FOIA

helps the public better understand the government, thereby

LATHAM WATKINScc•

LA\3175047

COMPLAINT

ATTORNEYS

AT

LAW

3

os

NGELES