9th Circuit Court of Appeals Briefing Schedule For ‘Muchnick v. Department of Homeland Security’

As reported earlier today, the federal government filed notice of appeal in Muchnick v. Department of Homeland Security — Concussion Inc.’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for further release of hitherto redacted records from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services file of permanent resident alien George Gibney.

Ireland’s 1988 Olympic swimming head coach, Gibney emigrated in the wake of dozens of allegations of his sexual abuse of youth athletes in his charge. In 1998 the government’s Murphy Commission issued a report affirming that Gibney’s many accusers “were vindicated.”

Last December, following a year and a half of litigation — during which the government produced an improved index of withheld documents and reversed some of its original redactions — U.S. District Court Senior Judge Charles Breyer ruled “(largely) in Muchnick’s favor” after privately reviewing the remaining 20 disputed documents.

The government’s appeal means that the case now moves to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which quickly published a projected briefing schedule. The Department of Homeland Security’s opening brief is due May 15. Our answering brief is due June 13.

Complete chronological links to Concussion Inc.’s George Gibney series are at https://concussioninc.net/?p=10942.