Court Grants Media Status to Internet-Only Newsletter

In a noteworthy opinion, Judge Reggie B. Walton of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia has granted a fee waiver to a group called Federal Cure ("FedCure").

FedCure sought a fee waiver in its requests to the Bureau of Prisons ("BOP") about ion spectrometer scanning methods used in the prisons. The BOP denied the fee waiver request, the litigation was filed and the Court ultimately agreed with FedCure. In finding that the group met the requirements for a fee-waiver, the Court found that FedCure's internet activities (a sporadically published newsletter, and answers to requests on a Yahoo discussion group) met the requirement as a representative of the news media.