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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

_______________________________

)

IN RE: )

)U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE FOIA ) Misc. No. 15-1188

LITIGATION REGARDING EMAILS )

OF CERTAIN FORMER OFFICIALS )

_______________________________ )

ORDER

The Cour t has bef or e i t some t hree dozen cases brought

under t he Fr eedom of I nf or mat i on Act ( FOI A) agai nst t he Uni t ed

St at es Depar t ment of St at e ( Stat e Depar t ment ) , seeki ng r ecor ds

t hat i ncl ude emai l s t hat wer e i n t he possessi on of f or mer

Secr et ar y of St at e Hi l l ar y Cl i nt on or member s of her st af f . The

St at e Depar t ment has f i l ed t hi s mi scel l aneous case, movi ng under

Local Ci vi l Rul es 40. 5( e) and 40. 6( a) f or desi gnat i on of a

coor di nat i ng j udge t o addr ess common quest i ons of l aw, f act ,

and pr ocedur e ( U. S. Dep t of St at e s Mot . f or Desi gnat i on of

Coor di nat i ng J udge, Sept . 2, 2015 [ ECF No. 1] ) .

The case was i ni t i al l y ass i gned t o t he Cal endar and Case

Management Commi t t ee, 1 whi ch sought r esponses f r om t he pl ai nt i f f s

1 The proposed or der at t ached t o t he mot i on had a si gnat urel i ne al r eady bear i ng as t he name of t he assi gned j udge Chi efJ udge Ri char d W. Rober t s. Mi scel l aneous cases, however , shal lbe assi gned t o j udges of t hi s cour t sel ect ed at r andom[ , ] LocalCi vi l Rul e 40. 3( a) , under t he di r ect i on of t he Cal endar andCase Management Commi t t ee. Local Ci vi l Rul e 40. 1( b) .

Case 1:15-mc-01188 Document 41 Filed 10/08/15 Page 1 of 3


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i n t he under l yi ng FOI A cases. ( See Or der , Sept . 4, 2015 [ ECF

No. 3] . ) The maj or i t y of pl ai nt i f f s f i l ed opposi t i ons t o t he

St ate Depart ment s mot i on. ( See Memoranda i n Opposi t i on, Sept .

11 and 14, 2015 [ ECF Nos. 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, & 26] . )

As t he St ate Depar t ment r ecogni zes, t hese cases do not meet

t he def i ni t i on of a r el at ed case under Local Ci vi l Rul e

40. 5( a) ( 3) . Many of t he under l yi ng cases have been pendi ng f or

sever al year s and a si gni f i cant number of schedul i ng or der s have

al r eady been ent ered. The j udges who have been r andoml y

assi gned t o t hese cases have been and cont i nue t o be commi t t ed

t o i nf or mal coor di nat i on so as t o avoi d unnecessar y

i nef f i ci enci es and conf usi on, and t he par t i es ar e al so ur ged t o

meet and conf er t o assi st i n coor di nat i on.

On Oct ober 6, 2015, t he Execut i ve Sessi on of t he Uni t ed

St at es Di st r i ct Cour t f or t he Di st r i ct of Col umbi a consi der ed

t he St at e Depar t ment s mot i on f or desi gnat i on of a coor di nat i ng

j udge and unani mousl y deci ded t o deny t he mot i on and t o cl ose

out t hi s mi scel l aneous case. Accor di ngl y, on behal f of t he

J udges of t hi s Cour t si t t i ng i n Execut i ve Sessi on, i t i s her eby

ORDERED t hat t he St ate Depar t ment s mot i on f or desi gnat i on

of a coor di nat i ng j udge [ ECF No. 1] be, and her eby i s, DENI ED.

I t i s f ur t her

ORDERED t hat al l ot her pendi ng mot i ons [ ECF Nos. 24 & 40]

be, and her eby ar e, DENI ED. I t i s f ur t her



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ORDERED t hat t he Cl erk of Cour t cl ose the above- capt i oned

mi scel l aneous case.

Dat ed t hi s 8th day of Oct ober , 2015.

_________________/ s/ __________RI CHARD W. ROBERTSChi ef J udge


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