
Buzzfeed Inc. vs. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Complaint [pdf] - DyslexicAtheist
https://www.clearinghouse.net/chDocs/public/IM-DC-0048-0001.pdf
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lmkg
Since it's not clear from the title: the lawsuit is over a FOIA request
related to the use of solitary confinement.

The FOIA request was first filed in September 2017. According to the
complaint, ICE pushed back the deadline to complete several times, and has not
responded to communication about the request since April 2018.

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steveklabnik
TL;DR, IANAL: Buzzfeed is suing both ICE and DHS because Buzzfeed FOIA'd
information related to solitary confinement, and have not gotten the proper
response yet. The FOIA request went out in September of 2017.

If I had to speculate, this is because Obama had a review of solitary
confinement practices done in the summer of 2015, and then in January 2016
said that it was going to end in some cases. They're interested in seeing if
this actually happened or not.

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manfredo
The important sections extracted from this rather hard to read PDF:

> Solitary confinement, also known as segregation, is the total or near-total
> isolation of prisoners, often in small cells for 23 hours a day. The United
> Nations Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council has found that
> prolonged solitary confinement can amount to torture. Solitary confinement
> of more than 15 days may lead to irreversible psychological damage. ICE
> policies state that placement in segregation should occur only when
> necessary and in compliance with applicable detention standards and requires
> additional review and oversight of decisions to retain detainees in
> segregation for over 14 days.

> On September 15, 2017, BUZZFEED requested from ICE, for the time period
> beginning January 1, 2016, all written notices to each ICE field office
> director of instances when a detainee has been held continuously in
> segregation, and all subsequent reviews conducted by the field office
> director. As of October 2, 2017, ICE had acknowledged receipt of the request
> and granted expedited processing, but had not provided a determination or
> estimated completion date. During the time period of October 2, 2017,
> through February 26, 2018, BUZZFEED contacted ICE multiple times to obtain
> an estimated completion date but ICE failed to provide one. On February 26,
> 2018, ICE provided an estimated completion date of December 20, 2017. That
> date is not a typo; ICE provided an estimated completion date that was two
> months in the past. While no administrative appeal was required, BUZZFEED
> submitted an appeal on March 16, 2018. In response to the appeal, on April
> 4, 2018, DHS provided no estimated completion date, instead stating that
> “[i]n many instances, an agency cannot meet [the twenty day] time limits due
> to a high volume of requests, resource limitations, and other reasons,” and
> remanded the appeal to ICE for a direct response. ICE has provided no
> further response to the request and no estimated completion date.

References to exhibits omitted

TL;DR: Buzzfeed asked for a records of which detainees have been placed in
solitary confinement, ICE/DHS did not respond.

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jermaustin1
This lawsuit was filed in June of 2018. Is there any additional information on
this lawsuit?

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steveklabnik
[https://www.clearinghouse.net/detail.php?id=16637](https://www.clearinghouse.net/detail.php?id=16637)
and [https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/7272334/buzzfeed-
inc-v-...](https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/7272334/buzzfeed-inc-v-us-
immigration-customs-enforcement/) have some more information, seems like it's
just kinda stuck at the moment.

