Fourteen Years After Being Sued, Bureau Of Prisons Finally Settles FOIA Lawsuit

from the Forever-Litigation dept

A little less than two years ago, we covered Prison Legal News' FOIA lawsuit against the Bureau of Prisons. While we're aware litigation is seldom a swift process, PLN's ongoing lawsuit was particularly epic: twelve years after filing its initial requests for records covering a period from 1996-2003, the DC Appeals Court reversed the lower court's decision in favor of the US BOP and instructed it to order the government to hand over the requested records to PLN.

Two years after that ruling -- fourteen years after PLN sued -- the government is finally settling the case. The government Taxpayers will be paying out nearly a half-million dollars for more than a decade of government stonewalling and obfuscatory litigation.

From the decision [PDF]:

1. The parties do hereby agree to settle, compromise and dismiss the above-entitled action under the terms and conditions set forth herein.

2. Since Plaintiff filed Civil Action No. 05-01812, Defendant agency has produced material Responsive to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request originally filed by Plaintiff; Plaintiff is satisfied with that production.

3. Defendant agency shall pay Plaintiff a lump sum of $420,000 in attorneys' fees and costs in this matter pursuant to 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(4)(e).

Despite the Appeals Court finding the BOP misused FOIA exemptions and engaged in wildly-inconsistent redactions, the settlement from the government comes with a "this isn't our fault" stipulation.

This Stipulation and Dismissal shall not constitute an admission of liability or fault on the part of the Defendant or Defendant agency or the United States or their agents, servants, or employees, and is entered into by both parties for the sole purpose of compromising disputed claims and avoiding the expenses and risks associated with further litigation.

If the government was really interested in "avoiding the expenses" of further litigation, you'd think it would have settled this case sometime during the last ten years. But the government wasn't interested in ending its litigation. It only decided to settle when it became apparent it wasn't going to win the case. Litigating further would have subjected it (or rather, US taxpayers) to an even larger legal fee payout.

This is how hard the government is willing to fight to keep public records out of the public's hands. Understandably, it was in no hurry to hand out evidence of crimes committed against prisoners by BOP employees, but power is supposed to be tied to accountability. The BOP doesn't care much for accountability or transparency. Since it has unlimited resources and time, engaging in a legal battle whose length rivals that of the War on Terror is no big deal. Only when faced with an inevitable loss did it finally concede, and its concession comes with "this isn't a concession" boilerplate attached.

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Filed Under: bop, bureau of prisons, foia, lawsuits, public records


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  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 May 2017 @ 5:28am

    So basically they get to sweep the case under the rug for the paltry sum of $420,000. Well isn't that just grand!
    Then again given that the system considers rape to be part of the punishment that comes as no surprise.
    In fact I'd say expect more of this as the Trump administration's stand on these issues is to be "hard on crime".

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Annonymouse, 9 May 2017 @ 5:33am

    Until such time that those behind the desks are held personally responsible for their and their departments actions this kind if crap fest will continue

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      ThomasE, 9 May 2017 @ 6:33am

      Re: personal accountability

      "Until such time that those behind the desks are held personally responsible..."

      Exactly.

      All the guilty people in BOP & Federal Executive branch COMPLETELY escape ANY personal consequences.

      Note that even TD here ... reflexively avoids naming any specific BOP person involved in this case. This further serves to insulate/protect BOP personnel from even simple media accountability.

      The current Director of BOP is Thomas R. Kane -- a career BOP employee who has been a senior BOP manager since 1991.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Ninja (profile), 9 May 2017 @ 5:41am

    Well, the prison business in the US is profitable and it's ever expanding (possibly faster now). Forget coca or marijuana, open banks or prisons in the US.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 May 2017 @ 6:46am

    At what point does a "no admission of fault" clause in a settlement become legally recognized as an admission of fault. Like, has there ever been one where it wasn't abundantly clear that they were at fault?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 9 May 2017 @ 7:58am

      Re:

      Strange how only the rich, corps & gov are afforded such deals, those of less resources end up in for profit prison because they are guilty and did not have enough money to prove their innocence.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 14 May 2017 @ 2:04pm

    The information was up for parole?

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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