Gerhard v. Federal Bureau of Prisons

CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJuly 11, 2017
DocketCivil Action No. 2016-1090
StatusPublished

This text of Gerhard v. Federal Bureau of Prisons (Gerhard v. Federal Bureau of Prisons) 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
Gerhard v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, (D.D.C. 2017).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

JASON GERHARD,

Plaintiff,

v. Civil Action No. 16-1090 (RDM)

FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS,

Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Plaintiff Jason Gerhard, proceeding pro se, brought this action against the Bureau of

Prisons (“BOP”) to compel the production of records pursuant to the Freedom of Information

Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552. In response to Gerhard’s lawsuit, the BOP located and released

additional responsive records. The BOP now moves for summary judgment, Dkt. 9, and Gerhard

requests an award of costs, Dkt. 13 at 3–4. Because the BOP has discharged its FOIA

obligations, but appears to have done so only because Gerhard filed this lawsuit, the Court will

grant the BOP’s motion for summary judgment and will award Gerhard his reasonable costs.

I. BACKGROUND

Gerhard is a federal prisoner and a self-described “researcher/news reporter . . . who

writes articles about the . . . BOP.” Dkt. 1 at 1–2 (Compl. ¶ 3). He runs a website where he

posts the results of his various FOIA requests and maintains a political blog. Id. At the times

relevant here, Gerhard was incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution Fairton (“FCI

Fairton”). See Dkt. 9-1 at 8, 11.

On January 12, 2015, Gerhard submitted the FOIA request at issue. See id. at 3 (Wallace

Decl. ¶ 5a); id. at 8. He sought three categories of records: (1) “[t]he contract for the copier (photocopier) machine at FCI Fairton’s library that is for inmate use;”

(2) “the quarterly reports detailing donations made to FCI Fairton (per [BOP Program Statement] 1350.02)” from October 2009 to December 2010; and

(3) the same quarterly reports for the period of “April 2012 to the present time.”

Id. at 8. BOP attorney John E. Wallace handled the request. See id. at 1–7 (Wallace Decl.).

To locate the copier contract, Wallace reached out to FCI Fairton’s “Trust Fund

Supervisor,” who “was the sole curator of documents concerning the inmate copier service.” Id.

at 4–5 (Wallace Decl. ¶¶ 7, 10). The supervisor explained that “there is no formal written

contract concerning inmate copiers.” Id. at 4 (Wallace Decl. ¶ 7). Although “[the inmate]

[c]opier service is provided by an outside contractor,” id. at 18 (BOP Program Statement

4500.11 at 52 (Apr. 9, 2015)), the BOP does not pay for those services directly. Instead, the

BOP purchases “copy cards” from the contractor in bulk, and then sells those cards to inmates at

a mark-up. See id. at 4 (Wallace Decl. ¶ 7); id. at 17–18 (BOP P.S. 4500.11 at 38, 52). At FCI

Fairton, “[t]he sale/purchase of the cards was handled with invoices and purchase orders,” rather

than “a fixed, traditional government contract.” Id. at 4 (Wallace Decl. ¶ 7).

Wallace also searched for the quarterly donation reports. Id. at 5 (Wallace Decl. ¶ 8).

Under BOP Program Statement 1350.02, prison wardens may accept donations to BOP

institutions if the donation is valued at $250 or less and (1) is religious or educational in nature

and from a religious or educational source, or (2) is from a prisoner leaving federal custody or

being transferred between prisons. See id. at 24–25 (BOP Program Statement 1350.02 at 2–3,

§§ 5–6 (June 29, 1998)). Wardens must submit quarterly reports of such donations to the BOP’s

Ethics Officer. Id. In response to Gerhard’s request, Wallace contacted FCI Fairton’s warden,

but not the BOP’s Ethics Officer. Id. at 5–6 (Wallace Decl. ¶¶ 8, 11). The warden’s secretary

informed Wallace that the chaplain kept records of the quarterly reports. Id. She then requested

2 the reports from the chaplain, and later relayed them to Wallace. Id. None of the reports

Wallace received covered the period between October 2009 and December 2010. Id.

On April 30, 2015, the BOP responded to Gerhard’s request. See id. at 3 (Wallace Decl.

¶ 5b); id. at 9–10. With respect to the copier contract, the BOP informed Gerhard that it located

no responsive records. Id. at 10. With respect to the donation reports from October 2009

through December 2010, the BOP merely referred Gerhard to his March 2012 request for the

same records, to which the BOP had already responded (although the BOP’s earlier search had

also come up empty). See id. at 9, 14 n.1. With respect to the donation reports from April 2012

to January 2015, the BOP released 17 pages of records, 5 of which included redactions pursuant

to 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6) and (b)(7)(C). See id. at 3, 5 (Wallace Decl. ¶¶ 5b n.2, 9); id. at 9.

Gerhard lost his administrative appeal on September 4, 2015, id. at 3 (Wallace Decl.

¶ 5e); id. at 14–15, and several months later commenced this action, Dkt. 1 at 3. Service was

effected on June 24, 2016. Dkt. 7 at 1. On August 23, 2016, Wallace uncovered eight new

pages of responsive records, comprising the missing quarterly donation reports for the period

October 2009 to December 2010. Dkt. 9-1 at 6 (Wallace Decl. ¶¶ 12–13). Wallace found the

missing reports by asking the Ethics Branch of the BOP’s Office of General Counsel to provide

them—a step he had not taken during his initial search. See id. at 5–6 (Wallace Decl. ¶¶ 8, 11,

12). The BOP then released those eight additional pages to Gerhard in full. Id. at 6 (Wallace

Decl. ¶ 13).

The BOP now contends that it has discharged its FOIA obligations and moves for

summary judgment. Dkt. 9. Gerhard opposes the entry of summary judgment with respect to the

copier contract and the quarterly donation reports from October 2009 to December 2010. Dkt.

13. His opposition brief also requests an award of his costs of bringing this action. Id. at 3–4.

3 II. ANALYSIS

A. Motion for Summary Judgment

In FOIA cases, “an agency is entitled to summary judgment if no material facts are in

dispute and if it demonstrates that each document that falls within the class requested” has been

produced in full, has been produced with redactions authorized under FOIA, or is “wholly

exempt from [FOIA’s] inspection requirements.” Students Against Genocide v. U.S. Dep’t of

State, 257 F.3d 828, 833 (D.C. Cir. 2001) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). The

agency may meet its burden by submitting “relatively detailed and non-conclusory” declarations.

SafeCard Servs., Inc. v. SEC, 926 F.2d 1197, 1200 (D.C. Cir. 1991) (quotation marks and

citation omitted). The Court reviews the agency’s decision de novo, and the agency bears the

burden of sustaining its action. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B).

1. Contract for the Copier

The BOP defends its failure to produce the requested “contract for the copier,” Dkt. 9-1

at 8, on the ground that “the contract sought does not exist,” Dkt. 9 at 9. Wallace’s declaration

and the BOP’s official program statement confirm that conclusion. See Dkt. 9-1 at 4–5 (Wallace

Decl. ¶¶ 7, 10); id. at 18 (BOP P.S. 4500.11 at 52). These documents demonstrate that, rather

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