Prison News Publisher Sues Bureau of Prisons Over UNICOR Settlement Records It First Requested in 2021

The publisher of Prison Legal News has sued the Federal Bureau of Prisons and Federal Prison Industries, the government corporation known as UNICOR, alleging that a Freedom of Information Act request it filed more than five years ago for records of the company's legal settlements has never been answered. The Digital Free Press read the complaint.

The Human Rights Defense Center, a Florida-based nonprofit, filed the suit Nov. 9 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the bureau and Federal Prison Industries Inc., which does business as UNICOR. The complaint describes UNICOR as a component of the bureau. The case was assigned Tuesday to U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras, according to the docket.

What the UNICOR FOIA Requests Sought

According to the complaint, the center asked on June 16, 2021, for records of "UNICOR's litigation payments" made since 2011 "to resolve claims against UNICOR and/or any of its agents and employees."

The request, quoted in the complaint, covered cases where UNICOR or its insurers paid $1,000 or more, including "settlements, damages, attorney fee awards, and sanctions." For each case, it sought the names of the parties, the case number, the court, the date of resolution and "the amount of money involved in the resolution and to whom it was paid," along with the complaint and the settlement or judgment that ended it.

The group filed a second request on July 10, 2024, for the same kinds of records covering July 10, 2014, through July 10, 2024, the complaint says.

Five Years and a Processing Letter

The complaint says the bureau answered the first request on June 23, 2021, with a processing letter that assigned tracking number 2021-05113, extended the response deadline by 10 working days, placed the request on the "complex track" and put off a decision on the group's fee waiver request.

"To date, HRDC has received no further response from Defendants or any substantive records as to this request," the complaint states. It says the agencies have not responded at all to the 2024 request.

Under FOIA, an agency must decide within 20 working days whether it will comply with a request, with up to 10 more working days in "unusual circumstances." The complaint argues that deadline "has lapsed" and that the group is therefore treated as having exhausted its administrative remedies.

The center, which says it qualifies as a "representative of the news media," also argues it is owed a full fee waiver. It cites a 2006 federal court ruling, Prison Legal News v. Lappin, which it says held that the organization, under its earlier name, was entitled to a fee waiver on a similar request to the Bureau of Prisons.

What the Lawsuit Asks For

The complaint raises three counts: failure to make a timely determination, failure to make a reasonable search and release records, and failure to grant a fee waiver. It asks the court to declare the agencies' failure to respond unlawful, order them to "immediately process and disclose" responsive records that are not exempt, grant the fee waiver and award attorney's fees and costs.

The center says Prison Legal News has been published continuously since 1990 and has about 5,000 subscribers. The complaint was signed by James M. Slater of Slater Legal PLLC in Atlanta.

As of Tuesday, the docket showed no response from the government. FOIA generally gives an agency 30 days after service to answer a complaint.

Sources: Complaint, Human Rights Defense Center v. Federal Prison Industries, Inc., d/b/a UNICOR, No. 1:26-cv-03948 (D.D.C.), filed Nov. 9, 2026 (https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.298617/gov.uscourts.dcd.298617.1.0.pdf); case docket on CourtListener (https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75089619/human-rights-defense-center-v-federal-prison-industries-inc/). Cover photo: the Federal Home Loan Bank Board Building at 320 First Street NW in Washington, D.C., headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, by ajay_suresh, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).