Adionser v. Department of Justice

33 F. Supp. 3d 23, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42367, 2014 WL 1284804
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedMarch 28, 2014
DocketCivil Case No. 10-27(RJL)
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 33 F. Supp. 3d 23 (Adionser v. Department of Justice) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adionser v. Department of Justice, 33 F. Supp. 3d 23, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42367, 2014 WL 1284804 (D.D.C. 2014).

Opinion

[Dkt. ## 81, 91]

MEMORANDUM OPINION

RICHARD J. LEON, United States District Judge

This is yet the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of plaintiff Dickinson Adion-ser’s litigation under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) against the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”). In September 2011, I granted summary judgment in favor of the DEA and other agency defendants, finding that various FOIA and Privacy Act exemptions allowed them to withhold certain documents from plaintiff. See Adionser v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 811 F.Supp.2d 284 (D.D.C.2011) [Dkt. #47]. That decision was summarily affirmed on appeal, but the case was remanded so I could address new factual and legal circumstances. See Adionser v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, No. 11-5093, 2012 WL 5897172, at *1-2 (D.C.Cir. Nov. 5, 2012) [Dkt. # 65], cert, denied, — U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 141, 187 L.Ed.2d 99 (2013). And so I will.

First, as part of its motion for summary affirmance on all other claims, the government notified our Court of Appeals that “the criminal appeal serving as the basis for invocation of [FOIA] Exemption 7(A) ha[d] concluded,” thus necessitating a remand for me to consider whether other exemptions cover the documents previously withheld on Exemption 7(A) grounds. Appellees’ Mot. for Partial Summ. Affir-mance at 1-2 [D.C.Cir. Doc. # 1376750]; see Adionser, 2012 WL 5897172, at *1. Second, the court on its own motion directed me to consider, “in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Milner [v. Department of the Navy], 562 U.S. 562, 131 S.Ct. 1259, 179 L.Ed.2d 268 [(2011)],” whether FOIA Exemption 7(E) applies to the DEA’s Geographical Drug Enforcement Program (“G-DEP”) codes previously withheld under Exemption 2. Adionser, 2012 WL 5897172, at *2. Adionser and the DEA have both moved for summary judgment on these two issues, and I will address them in turn. See Def.’s Mot. for Summ. J. (“Def.’s Mot.”) [Dkt. # 81]; Pl.’s Cross Mot. for Summ. J. (“Pl.’s Cross Mot.”) [Dkt. # 90].1

ANALYSIS

A. G-DEP Codes Withheld Under FOIA Exemption 7(E)

I begin with the second issue because it is discrete and simple. According to the DEA’s Fourth Declaration of Katherine L. Myrick (“Fourth Myrick Deck”) [Dkt. #81-3], and the attached Vaughn Index (Ex. B to Fourth Myrick Decl.) [26]*26‘ [Dkt. # 81-5] — which I find are sufficiently specific and detailed to warrant the same reliance that I and the Court of Appeals afforded the government’s previous declarations and indices, see Adionser, 811 F.Supp.2d at 292-93; Adionser, 2012 WL 5897172,' at *1 — the G-DEP codes were the only things withheld under Exemption 7(E). See Fourth Myrick Decl. ¶ 28. But plaintiff now says “he is not interested in any G-DEP codes.” Pl.’s Cross Mot. at 34. On that ground alone, I grant summary judgment in the DEA’s favor on Exemption 7(E).

The DEA’s affidavit goes on to explain how G-DEP codes “identify priority given to narcotic investigations, types of criminal activities involved, and violator ratings,” which suspects could “decode ... and as a result, change their pattern of drug-trafficking in an effort to respond to what they determined DEA knows about them, develop enforcement countermeasures, avoid detection and apprehension, created excuses for suspected activities, and/or create alibis for suspected activities.” Fourth Myrick Decl. ¶ 28. Even assuming the DEA did “release Adionser’s G-DEP code ‘XCHIR’ to [him] and his co-defendants in 2003,” PL’s Cross Mot.- at 34, plaintiff does not seriously challenge the DEA’s assertion that further disclosure of the codes “would disclose techniques[,] procedures . _.. [and] guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions” that “could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law.” 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(E); Fourth Myrick Decl. ¶ 29; see also Am. Immigration Lawyers Ass’n v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 852 F.Supp.2d 66, 78 (D.D.C.2012) (“While Exemption 7(E)’s protection is generally limited to techniques or procedures that are not well-known to the public, even commonly known procedures may be protected from disclosure if the disclosure could reduce or nullify their effectiveness.”). .1 therefore find that the DEA properly asserted Exemption 7(E).

B. Information Withheld Under FOIA Exemptions 7(C), 7(D), and 7(F) and Privacy Act Exemption (j)(2)

The rest of the information at issue— which had initially been withheld pursuant to Exemption 7(A) — is now being withheld under FOIA Exemptions 7(C), 7(D), and 7(F), and Privacy Act Exemption (j)(2). See 5 U.S.C. §§ 552(b)(7)(C), (D), (F); 552a(j)(2). Plaintiff’s arguments concerning these documents are similar, if not identical, to the ones he made in his initial summary judgment briefing, so the analy-ses the follow are essentially abbreviated versions of the ones set forth in my previous opinion. In short, I find that the Fourth Myrick Declaration and the attached Vaughn Index adequately support the-DEA’s application of these exemptions to the 753 pages of documents the DEA processed following our Circuit Court’s remand.

First, Exemption 7(C) covers any “records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes,” the production of which “could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(C). In determining whether the exemption applies, the Court must “balance the privacy interests that would be compromised by disclosure against the public interest in release of the requested information.” Beck v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 997 F.2d 1489, 1491 (D.C.Cir.1993) (internal quotation marks omitted). The Fourth Myrick Declaration explains that “[m]uch of the documents in investigative case file number GW-02-0032 contain names and other identifying information which would reveal the identity of and disclose personal information about third-party individuals who [27]*27were involved or associated with the plaintiff or otherwise associated with the criminal investigation.” Fourth Myrick Deck ¶ 15. The information relates to “witnesses, suspects, criminal associates, non-implicated individuals, and law enforcement officers and support personnel,” id. and it includes their addresses, financial account information, birth dates, Social Security Numbers, and driver’s license numbers, id. ¶ 17.

Plaintiff has not asserted any public interest substantial enough to outweigh the grave privacy and safety concerns implicated by his request for this information. See id. ¶¶ 18-21; see also Graff v. FBI, 822 F.Supp.2d 28, 33 (D.D.C.2011) (“Exemption 7(C) imposes a special burden on the requester to specify the public interest justification for disclosure of the requested records.” (citing Nat’l Archives & Records Admin, v. Favish, 541 U.S. 157, 172, 124 S.Ct. 1570, 158 L.Ed.2d 319 (2004)));. see also Boyd v. Criminal Div. of U.S. Dep’t of Justice,

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Bluebook (online)
33 F. Supp. 3d 23, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42367, 2014 WL 1284804, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adionser-v-department-of-justice-dcd-2014.