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United States Fish and Wildlife Service, et al. v. Sierra Club, Inc.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 17-16560 · judgment May 30, 2019

Decided · March 4, 2021
Pre-decision estimate: 18% cert probability (95% interval 12%–26%)

Before the decision, about 4.3× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a federal-government petitioner, a Ninth Circuit decision below, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and down for a business respondent.

Question presented

Whether Exemption 5 of the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(5) (2012), by incorporating the deliberative process privilege, protects against compelled disclosure a federal agency's draft documents that were prepared as part of a formal interagency consultation process under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 16 U.S.C. 1536, and that concerned a proposed agency action that was later modified in the consultation process.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Brian H. Fletcher
Acting Solicitor General

For respondent
Sanjay Narayan
Sierra Club Environmental Law Program

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Amicus briefs
6 merits
(6 respondent)

Argument & decision

Argued November 2, 2020 — Matthew Guarnieri · Sanjay Narayan. Audio and transcript

Decided March 4, 2021.

Proceedings

  1. Apr 05 2021
    JUDGMENT ISSUED.
  2. Mar 04 2021
    Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Barrett, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Thomas, Alito, Kagan, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh, JJ., joined. Breyer, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Sotomayor, J., joined.
  3. Nov 02 2020
    Argued. For petitioners: Matthew Guarnieri, Assistant to the Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. For respondent: Sanjay Narayan, Oakland, Cal.
  4. Sep 28 2020
    Sealed record material from USCA-9 received (electronic).
  5. Sep 03 2020
    Record from the U.S.C.A. is electronic and located on Pacer.
  6. Sep 02 2020
    CIRCULATED
  7. Aug 31 2020
    Record requested from the U.S.C.A. 9th Circuit.
  8. Aug 26 2020
    Reply of petitioners United States Fish and Wildlife Service, et al. filed.
  9. Aug 19 2020
    SET FOR ARGUMENT on Monday, November 2, 2020.
  10. Aug 03 2020
    Brief amicus curiae of Electronic Privacy Information Center filed.
  11. Aug 03 2020
    Brief amici curiae of American Forest Resource Council, et al. filed.
  12. Aug 03 2020
    Brief amici curiae of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 28 Media Organizations filed.
  13. Aug 03 2020
    Brief amici curiae of ACLU, et al. filed.
  14. Aug 03 2020
    Brief amici curiae of Andrew Rosenberg, et al. filed.
  15. Jul 31 2020
    Brief amici curiae of Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife filed.
  16. Jul 27 2020
    Brief of respondent Sierra Club, Inc. filed.
  17. Jun 02 2020
    Blanket Consent filed by Respondent, Sierra Club, Inc.
  18. May 21 2020
    Brief of petitioners United States Fish and Wildlife Service, et al. filed.
  19. May 21 2020
    Joint appendix filed. (Statement of costs filed)
  20. Apr 21 2020
    Motion to further extend the time to file the briefs on the merits granted. The time to file the joint appendix and petitioners' brief on the merits is further extended to and including May 21, 2020. The time to file respondent's brief on the merits is further extended to and including July 27, 2020.
  21. Apr 09 2020
    Motion for a further extension of time to file the briefs on the merits filed.
  22. Mar 16 2020
    Motion to extend the time to file the briefs on the merits granted. The time to file the joint appendix and petitioners' brief on the merits is extended to and including May 18, 2020. The time to file respondent's brief on the merits is extended to and including July 20, 2020.
  23. Mar 13 2020
    Motion for an extension of time to file the briefs on the merits filed.
  24. Mar 02 2020
    Petition GRANTED.
  25. Feb 24 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/28/2020.
  26. Jan 22 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/21/2020.
  27. Jan 22 2020
    Reply of petitioners United States Fish and Wildlife Service,, et al. filed. (Distributed)
  28. Jan 06 2020
    Brief of respondent Sierra Club, Inc. in opposition filed.
  29. Nov 06 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including January 6, 2020.
  30. Nov 01 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from November 27, 2019 to January 6, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
  31. Oct 25 2019
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 27, 2019)
  32. Sep 17 2019
    Application (19A185) to extend further the time from September 27, 2019 to October 25, 2019, submitted to Justice Kagan.
    Written RequestProof of Service
  33. Sep 17 2019
    Application (19A185) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until October 25, 2019.
  34. Aug 19 2019
    Application (19A185) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until September 27, 2019.
  35. Aug 16 2019
    Application (19A185) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from August 28, 2019 to September 27, 2019, submitted to Justice Kagan.
    Main DocumentProof of Service