| FOIA Case Against HUD Now
Dropped As HUD Drops Verification of Eligible
Status
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
April 1 – The Legal Aid
Society, represented by the
Winston & Strawn law firm,
has sued the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban
Development under FOIA in
March. On July 16, 2020 U.S.
District for the Southern
District of New York Judge
Lewis J. Liman held another
conference on the case; Inner
City Press covered it, below.
Now on
April 1, 2021, Legal Aid is
dropping the case, stating
that HUD has said it "has no
intention of finalizing the
Proposed Rule, Housing and
Community Development Act of
1980: Verification of Eligible
Status, which with the FOIA
Request had been primarily
concerned."
That FOIA
request concerned a HUD rule
limiting eligibility to
housing based on immigration
status of family members. The
requesters want to know who
worked on the rule.
In another
FOIA case against HUD handled
by Judge Liman, PRLDEF now
LatinoJustice is seeking
documents about the
disproportionate impact of the
"Verification of Eligible
Status Rule." Judge Liman held
a proceeding on July 28 and
Inner City Press covered it. A
meet and confer had released a
few documents, but HUD still
disputes a fee waiver.
Judge Liman asked
how LatinoJustice plans to
disseminate documents to the
public. The response was, El
Diario, Huffington Post, even
the Daily Mail. The next
conference was set for August
20. This case is LatinoJustice
PRLDEF v. HUD, 20-cv-4859
(Liman).
On July 16
Judge Liman told the parties
to agree to a production
schedule by July 27, or to
brief the issue. The
Government's lead lawyer said
she will be on vacation. The
the deadline remains, with
another conference scheduled
for July 31. There are 640
pages in 132 White House
documents, minus White House
briefing documents. Inner City
Press will continue to follow
this case.
Inner City Press
as a journalistic FOIA
practitioner sees increasing
foot dragging by Federal
agencies like the Office of
the Comptroller of the
Currency, see here.
So Judge Liman's approach is
needed. The case is Legal Aid
Society v. HUD, 20-cv-2283
(Liman).
***
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