Standing


 * This article is part of a series on Litigation

Introduction
Standing refers to the interest and position a party must have in order to bring a lawsuit. Generally, the person who filed a FOIA request has standing to file a lawsuit regarding that request. If the plaintiff is not the requester, however, no amount of interest in the subject of the request can confer standing.

Challenging Denials
Requesters have standing when they have been denied the information they requested. However, the denied FOIA request must have asked the agency to produce existing documents. Requesters will likely not have standing if the denied FOIA request asked the agency to create new documents.

Challenging Delays
Even if the agency has acknowledged receipt of the request or has otherwise communicated with the requester, a requester has standing to bring suit if the agency has failed to respond fully within the time required by statute. Additionally, even if a specific FOIA request has become moot, a plaintiff may still seek a declaratory judgement or injunctive relief. To establish standing in these cases, a plaintiff must allege a pattern or practice of FOIA violations. A plaintiff should be able to show: (1) the agency's FOIA violation was not merely an isolated incident, (2) plaintiff was personally harmed by the alleged policy, and (3) the plaintiff himself has a sufficient likelihood of future harm by the policy or practice.

Assignment and Transfer of Standing
Generally, no person other than the original requester has standing to challenge an agency's response to their request. If an employee intends for their employer (or an attorney intends for their client) to have standing to bring a FOIA claim, she must indicate that she is making the request on behalf of the other party. Otherwise, only the requester has standing to bring a FOIA claim. The DC Circuit has held, however, that in some cases, if a FOIA requester dies, his right to continue a FOIA claim may survive and pass to the legal representative of the requester's estate.