article: On February 27, 2013, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed this lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for failure to release information in response to EPIC's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The FOIA request was filed on July 10, 2012 regarding the disclosure of a communication shutdown procedure approved by DHS. EPIC claimed that DHS's failure to respond to an administrative appeal violated the statutory deadline imposed by FOIA. Additionally, EPIC claims that DHS failed to make a reasonable effort to search for the documents requested and that DHS was unlawfully withholding said documents. The EPIC requested injunctive relief from the court to compel immediate disclosure of the relevant records. The FOIA request was for disclosure of records related to a communication shutdown procedure called Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) 303 described in the <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/2006-2007%20NSTAC%20Issue%20Review_0.pdf">2006-07 DHS Issue Review </a> as codifying a "shutdown and restoration process for use by commercial and private wireless networks during national crises" to prevent the remote detonation of bombs. On July 11, 2011 a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) officer in San Francisco shot and killed a homeless man. He later alleged that the homeless man had a knife and that the officer had shot him in self defense. This resulted in a major protest against BART. The second protest on August 12, 2011 was cut short when BART supposedly used the SOP 303 communication shutdown procedure to shut off all cellular service in several of its transit stations for three hours. DHS responded to EPIC's FOIA request on August 21, 2012 notifying EPIC that DHS was unable to locate or identify the records requested. EPIC administratively appealed this response on September 13, 2012. DHS, which was statutorily required by FOIA to respond to an administrative appeal within 20 days, did not submit a timely response. On May 20, 2013, Judge James E. Boasberg ordered the disclosure of any segregable portions of SOP 303. On June 28, 2013, DHS disclosed the document, but withheld portions under FOIA exemptions 6 and 7(C), 7(E), and 7(D) on the grounds that they included personal information of DHS officials, techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or endangered the life of any individual. At the same time, DHS moved for summary judgment and EPIC made a cross-motion for summary judgment. On November 12, 2013 Judge James E. Boasberg granted EPIC's motion for summary judgment on the grounds that DHS's invocation of exemptions 7(E) and 7(D) were improper, and stayed the order pending the defendant's appeal to the DC Circuit Court. On June 1, 2015, The DC Circuit Court reversed and remanded the case to the district court to determine whether any segregable portions of SOP 303 could be disclosed. On July 10, 2015, DHS submitted a redacted version of SOP 303 to Judge Boasberg, who decided consistent with the court of appeals' decision that DHS did not need to disclose any further information and entered judgment in favor DHS. Afterwards, the parties litigated regarding DHS's payment of EPIC's attorney's fees. On July 18, 2016, the judge granted in part the motion for attorney's fees totaling $20,145.04. The case is now closed.
summary: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) adopted a communication shutdown procedure (SOP 303) intended to prevent the remote detonation of bombs without publicly disclosing the content of the procedure. The Electronic Privacy and Information Center (EPIC) filed a FOIA request in July 2012 for SOP 303, and the DHS was reluctant to disclose it. It responded to EPIC's FOIA request by saying the document could not be located, and did not respond timely to EPIC's administrative appeal of that response. EPIC filed this law suit on February 27, 2013 for injunctive relief to compel DHS to disclose the entirety of SOP 303. On May 20, 2013, the judge ordered the disclosure of any segregable portions of SOP 303. On June 28, 2013, DHS disclosed portions of the document and withheld other based on FOIA exemptions DHS believed applied to the procedure. Both parties moved for summary judgment. Judge Boasberg granted the EPIC's motion for summary judgment on the grounds that DHS did not properly apply the exemptions. The DC Court of Appeals reversed the district court's decision and remanded the case to determine whether there were segregable portions of SOP 303 that could be disclosed. DHS then submitted a redacted version of SOP 303 to Judge Boasberg, who decided that the document was disclosed liberally enough and granted judgment in favor of DHS.