Green v. Chicago Police Department

Plaintiff made FOIA request, in 2015, for all closed complaint register (CR) files concerning all Chicago police officers, and filed suit when Police Department failed to respond to his request. While that suit was pending, an injunction was also in place in that court, prohibiting Police Department from releasing any CR files over 4 years old from date of any FOIA request. Court continued Plaintiff's suit while injunction was being litigated. Court vacated injunction in 2016, and 4 years later ordered Police Department to turn over all CR files dated 1967-2015 pursuant to Plaintiff's original request.  The propriety of a response to FOIA request must be judged at the time the decision denying the FOIA request was made. Police Department did not improperly withhold the CR files prior to November 2011, as an injunction prohibiting such disclosure had been in place for more than 4 years as of the date of the request. Thus, court improperly ordered Police Department to produce those files in 2020, pursuant to the original FOIA request. (HOFFMAN, concurring; DELORT, dissenting.)