Freedom of the Press Foundation v. United States Department of Justice

241 F. Supp. 3d 986, 2017 WL 952885, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35816
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedMarch 13, 2017
DocketCase No. 15-cv-03503-HSG
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 241 F. Supp. 3d 986 (Freedom of the Press Foundation v. United States Department of Justice) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Freedom of the Press Foundation v. United States Department of Justice, 241 F. Supp. 3d 986, 2017 WL 952885, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35816 (N.D. Cal. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER RE CROSS MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Re: Dkt. Nos. 30, 37

HAYWOOD S. GILLIAM, JR., United States District Judge

Pending before the Court are the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment. Dkt. Nos. 30, 37. For the reasons articulated below, the Court GRANTS Defendant’s motion for summary judgment.and DENIES Plaintiffs crpss-motion.

[993]*993I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Freedom of the Press Foundation filed this action on July 30, 2015, seeking an injunction to compel Defendant DOJ to disclose records requested under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”). Plaintiff submitted a FOIA request on March 10, 2015, seeking records related to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (“FBI”) procedures for issuing national security letters (“NSLs”) to obtain information regarding any member of the media from January 2009 to the present. Dkt. No. 1. The FBI is empowered to issue NSLs to obtain “subscriber information and toll billing records information, or electronic communication transactional records” from third-party wire or electronic communication providers if such information is “relevant to an authorized investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities.” 18 U.S.C. §§ 2709(a)-(b). Plaintiff, however, suspects government misuse of this investigative tool.

In response to Plaintiffs FOIA request, the FBI conducted a search of its records. See Dkt. No. 30-1 (Hardy Decl.) ¶¶ 17-21 & Exs. H, I. It identified 302 pages of records and released 156, withholding the rest pursuant to FOIA Exemptions 1, 3, 5, 7(C), and 7(E). Id. ¶ 15. Defendant also consulted with another agency — the Office of the General Counsel (“OGC”) — regarding responsive records, identifying another 134 pages of records and releasing 72, again withholding the rest pursuant to FOIA Exemptions 5, 6, 7(C), and 7(E). Id, ¶ 16 & Exs. H, I. In total, Defendant identified 436 pages of records responsive -to Plaintiffs FOIA request and released 228 documents (171 in part and 57 in full). See ¶¶ 5, 16 & Ex., H. The FBI detailed its search and the nature of its withholdings in an affidavit in the form described in Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820 (D.C. Cir. 1973), generally known as a “Vaughn Index,” as well as two Declarations from David M. Hardy (“Hardy Declarations”), the Section Chief of the Record/Information Dissemination Section (“RIDS’O.of the FBI’s Record Management Division. See Hardy Decl. Ex. I (Vaughn Index): see also Dkt. No. 44-1 (Suppl. Hardy Decl.).

II. LEGAL STANDARD

A. Summary Judgment

Summary judgment is proper when a “movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). A fact is “material” if it “might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). And a dispute is “genuine” if there is evidence in the record sufficient for a reasonable trier.of fact to decide in favor of the nonmoving party. Id. But in deciding if a dispute is genuine, -the Court must view the inferences reasonably drawn from the materials in the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587-88, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986), and “may not weigh the evidence or make credibility determinations,” Freeman v. Arpaio, 125 F.3d 732, 735 (9th Cir. 1997).

With respect to summary judgment procedure, the moving party always bears both the ultimate burden of persuasion and the initial burden of producing those portions of the pleadings, discovery, and affidavits that show the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Where the moving party will bear the burden of proof on an issue at trial, it must show that no reasonable trier of fact could not find in its favor. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548. “If [994]*994a moving party fails to carry its initial burden of production, the nonmoving party has no obligation to produce anything, even if the nonmoving party would have the ultimate burden of persuasion at trial.” Id. at 1102-03.

“If, however, a moving party carries its burden of production, the nonmoving party must produce evidence to support its claim or defense.” Id. at 1103. In doing so, the nonmoving party “must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Matsushita Elec., 475 U.S. at 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348. A nonmoving party must also “identify with reasonable particularity the evidence that precludes summary judgment,” because the duty of the Court is not to “scour the record in search of a genuine issue of triable fact.” Keenan v. Allan, 91 F.3d 1275, 1279 (9th Cir. 1996). If a nonmoving party fails to produce evidence that supports its claim or defense, courts must enter summary judgment in favor of the movant. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

B. FOIA

FOIA, 5 U.S.C. § 552, “was enacted to facilitate public access to Government documents.” Lahr v. Nat’l Transp. Safety Bd., 569 F.3d 964, 973 (9th Cir. 2009) (internal quotations omitted). The goal of FOIA is to “ensure an informed citizenry, vital to the functioning of a democratic society, needed to check against corruption and to hold the governors accountable to the governed.” Id. (quotation omitted). At the same time, FOIA contemplates that the government may have legitimate reasons for withholding some information from the public. Id. Accordingly, FOIA “requires federal agencies to make Government records available to the public, subject to nine exemptions for specific categories of material.” Milner v. Dep’t of Navy, 562 U.S. 562, 564, 131 S.Ct. 1259, 179 L.Ed.2d 268 (2011). These nine FOIA exemptions are “explicitly made exclusive and must be narrowly construed.” Id. at 565, 131 S.Ct. 1259 (quotation omitted).

FOIA cases are typically decided on motions for summary judgment because the facts are rarely in dispute. See Minier v. Cent. Intelligence Agency, 88 F.3d 796, 800 (9th Cir. 1996). Upon a motion for summary judgment, a district court analyzes the withholding of documents de novo. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B).

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241 F. Supp. 3d 986, 2017 WL 952885, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35816, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/freedom-of-the-press-foundation-v-united-states-department-of-justice-cand-2017.