Government Declines Judge Breyer’s Suggestion to Release George Gibney Immigration Documents; Requests ‘Final Order’ From Court
December 5, 2016Final Court Order For Government Production of George Gibney Immigration Records
December 7, 2016
by Irvin Muchnick
U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer has issued a final order in Concussion Inc.’s favor in Muchnick v. Department of Homeland Security — our Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for hitherto redacted United States Citizenship and Immigration Services files on the visa history of rapist former Irish Olympic swimming head coach George Gibney.
The court’s action came a mere 24 hours after the federal government informed Judge Breyer that it had decided not to take up his suggestion, in a tentative order on November 2, to release certain portions of the remaining disputed 20 documents covering 43 pages.
As noted here yesterday, the next legal step is the government’s decision on whether to comply with the order or appeal it to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Breyer’s new 10-page order is virtually identical to the 11-page one last month, which can be viewed at http://muchnick.net/gibneyruling.pdf. The only difference is in the conclusion language, which reflects the shift from “tentative” to “final.” Here is the language:
“DHS is ORDERED to disclose substantive information contained in the A-File about Gibney’s alleged crimes, decisions about immigration benefits he sought, and the dates any documents containing such information were created. DHS may continue to withhold identifying information about third parties other than Gibney, as well as Gibney’s past addresses, salary history, A-number, and the like. It may also continue to withhold portions of documents revealing the investigative procedures used to obtain information about Gibney, but not the information itself.
Based on the foregoing, DHS has properly redacted or withheld some documents but not others. The Court has separated those two categories and highlighted what DHS must disclose to comply with this order.”