Parkland parents score victory against FBI in fight over records

Judge says government must turn over information on school shooting

A federal judge has given the families of the Parkland school shooting victims a rare legal victory in their efforts to peel back the FBI’s veil of secrecy over how it bungled tips about the killer.

The decision came about because U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas found that government attorneys have been unacceptably dragging their heels in handing over critical internal FBI documents, even though they were ordered to do so by a U.S. magistrate judge.

His solution for the delay? Put the process of providing information into overdrive, giving the

Parkland parent’s case against the FBI a breath of hope. The judge rebuffed the U.S. Justice Department’s attempts to have the lawsuit thrown out.

The lawsuit, filed by the parents of Jaime Guttenberg and Carmen Schentrup in November 2018, uses a law called the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows people to sue the U.S. government for damages. The families argue that the FBI bears responsibility for the deaths of their children.

Guttenberg and Schentrup, along with 15 other people, were killed by Nikolas Cruz in the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High on Feb. 14, 2018.

The litigation is considered to be a test case for the 15 other lawsuits filed by grieving relatives and survivors against the FBI.

“Changes need to be made at the FBI so this sort of thing doesn’t happen again,” said Andy Pollack, the father of Meadow Pollack, who also was slain in shooting.

“The best way to bring about change is in the courtroom,” said Pollack, who also is a party to the lawsuits.

Kevin Markow, an experienced federal litigator, noted how the judge’s decision marked a key step forward. “Many FTCA claims don’t progress to this

point,” Markow said.

Going forward, you can expect “a lot of discovery, depositions, document exchanges,” explains Jose Silva, a litigator with Silva and Silva who has brought similar actions against the U.S. government.

Top officials at the FBI have publicly admitted they “committed serious, grave errors” when their agents took the tips and then did nothing with them, but the government’s filings in the litigation have shown a different position.

On March 5, 2019, the United States filed a motion to throw the case out, arguing that it didn’t have a responsibility to the parents and their murdered children under Florida law, and that, anyways, the parents’ claims were not allowed under federal law because it was the “discretion” of the FBI whether to follow up on Cruz.

Since that filing, the lawyers for the Parkland parents have been trying to pry documents from the government that would prove the FBI violated its own policies and standards in not going after

Cruz. If they can prove the FBI violated its policies, they will be more likely to prevail in their case.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Dimitrouleas threw out to government’s “discretion” argument in large part because government attorneys have been dragging their heels for almost a year.

“The Court finds that the delay has been predominately attributable to the United States’ conduct in improperly withholding relevant material,” the judge wrote.

The lawsuit now enters a phase in which the lawyers for the Parkland families will have much broader access to FBI documents, as well as the ability to take depositions from FBI personnel.

“Aside from simply not passing the smell test in terms of fairness,” Markow said, “there are important public interests in these Plaintiffs having access to the discovery sought. The truth must come out.”

“We’re pleased with the court’s order and look forward to continuing to vigorously represent our client in this litigation against the United States,” said Kristina Infante, an attorney who is working on the case.