CEI v. EPA – Order and Opinion
On Sept. 04, 2014, a federal judge allowed the Competitive Enterprise Institute to proceed with its lawsuit (CEI v. EPA No. 13-1532) challenging EPA's destruction of documents. Specifically, the judge ruled CEI can seek an injunction commanding EPA to notify the National Archives of its destruction of work-related text messages of agency officials. Thus, the judge ruled, EPA cannot simply discard all text messages without consequences. She also ruled that CEI can seek a writ of mandamus to compel EPA to preserve any text messages related to the Agency’s functions, structure, or substantive decision-making.
