Citizens for Resp. and Ethics v. FEC, No. 12-5004 (D.C. Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseThis case stemmed from CREW's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552, request to the FEC seeking several categories of records, including certain correspondence, calendars, agendas, and schedules of the Commissioners. At issue was when must a FOIA requester exhaust administrative appeal remedies before suing in federal district court to challenge an agency's failure to produce requested documents. The exhaustion issue in this case boiled down to what kind of agency response qualified as a "determination." The court held that, in order to make a "determination" within the statutory time periods and thereby trigger the administrative exhaustion requirement, the agency need not actually produce the documents within the relevant time period. But the agency must at least indicate within the relevant time period the scope of the documents its will produce and the exemptions it will claim with respect to any withheld documents. In this case, the FEC did not make such a "determination" and CREW was not required to exhaust administrative appeal remedies before filing its FOIA suit. Accordingly, the court reversed the contrary judgment of the district court and remanded for further proceedings.
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