Showing Animals Response and Kindness v. Department of the Interior, 730 F. Supp. 2d 180 (D.D.C. 2010)
Case Summary:
On behalf of Showing Animals Respect and Kindness, we challenged the
Department of Interior's withholding of records under FOIA which served as the
basis for two plea agreements stemming from felony violations of the Lacey Act.
A well-known country music singer was charged with conspiring to kill a black bear in an enclosed
pen and then falsely tag it as killed in the wild. By way of his plea agreement,
the singer received only a fraction of the maximum penalty available. The FOIA
lawsuit sought the records underlying the plea agreements so that the plaintiff could assess whether the
Interior Department zealously prosecuted this case notwithstanding the singer's
celebrity status and to ensure that the Lacey Act is being properly enforced. The Court ruled for the plaintiffs as to the most important documents.
Plaintiffs: Showing Animals Respect and Kindness
Court: United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Status:
05/12/09 - Complaint was filed
06/11/09 - Plaintiffs file an Amended Complaint
09/11/09 - Defendants move for Summary Judgment
10/09/09 - Plaintiffs move for Summary Judgment and file an Opposition to Defendants Motion for Summary Judgment
10/30/09 - Defendants file an Opposition to Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment and a Reply in Support of their Motion for Summary Jugment
11/20/09 - Plaintiffs file a Reply in Support of their Motion for Summary Judgment
08/12/10 - Judgment entered in favor of the Plaintiffs