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Federal judge says IRS must pay $239K to lawyers in FOIA case, but nixes multiplier

When Public.Resource.org asked the Internal Revenue Service to provide so-called 990 forms filed by nine tax-exempt organizations, in the original digital format, the IRS said it would be too expensive to comply with the Freedom of Information Act request.

CIting a claimed $6,200 in needed training and technology, the IRS said it would be an undue burden to provide the documents due to its “sequestration level” funding, reports Courthouse News. That proved to be a costly refusal.

Public.Resource.org sued in 2013, and in January a federal judge in San Francisco said the funding issue didn’t excuse the FOIA noncompliance.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge William Orrick awarded not quite $239,400 in attorney’s fees and costs to the nonprofit. However, he nixed a request to add a 50-percent penalty.

“I am persuaded that the outcome of this case is likely to enhance the public’s ability to analyze and understand information in Form 990s, and that this represents a meaningful advancement of the public interest,” the judge said in his written opinion. “But without a more substantial showing of the specific benefits of the litigation, I cannot say that this alone justifies a multiplier.”

Justia provides a copy of the opinion in the Northern District of California case.