James Madison Project & Ken Dilanian v. Dep't of Justice

302 F. Supp. 3d 290
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedMarch 26, 2018
DocketCivil Action No. 16–116 (RBW)
StatusPublished

This text of 302 F. Supp. 3d 290 (James Madison Project & Ken Dilanian v. Dep't of Justice) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
James Madison Project & Ken Dilanian v. Dep't of Justice, 302 F. Supp. 3d 290 (D.C. Cir. 2018).

Opinion

I. BACKGROUND

The undisputed facts relevant to the defendants' motion are the following. See generally Pls.' Facts (not disputing any the defendants' facts). On December 10, 2015, the plaintiffs submitted a FOIA request to the Director, see Defs.' Facts ¶ 27, seeking "copies of all [of the Director's] records pertaining to [Thomas Andrews] Drake from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2011," id. ¶ 28. Specifically, the plaintiffs sought all records concerning "the criminal/intelligence investigation into [the] activities" of Drake, who was a "former NSA employee." Compl. ¶ 9.3 The Director "reasonably determined" that its "Office of General Counsel, [ ] Office of the Intelligence Community Inspector General, and [ ] National Counterintelligence and Security Center" would "potentially have documents responsive to [the p]laintiffs' FOIA request[ ]." Defs.' Facts ¶ 29. The Director therefore instructed those offices to "conduct[ ] systematic searches of both their *294physical and electronic records" for potentially responsive documents. Id. ¶ 30. "Only the Office of the General Counsel identified any potentially responsive records, which were then reviewed by the [Director's] Information Management Division [ ] to determine whether these documents were actually responsive to [the p]laintiffs' FOIA request." Id. ¶ 32.

Based on its review of the potentially responsive documents that were located, the Director "identified four documents, which it ha[d] designated [as] Documents A, B, C, and D, as responsive to [the p]laintiffs' FOIA request." Id. ¶ 33. On July 28, 2016, the Director "released a redacted version of Document A, an e-mail thread," id. ¶ 35, and on October 3, 2016, the Director "released redacted versions of Documents B and C, both also e-mail threads," id. ¶ 36. The Director redacted information from Documents A, B, and C pursuant to several FOIA exemptions. See id. ¶¶ 38-39. The Director "referred Document D to the NSA for review and direct release to [the p]laintiffs," id. ¶ 34, and this document is not a subject of this memorandum opinion.

The plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint asserts eleven separate causes of actions. See generally Compl. Through their motion, the defendants seek summary judgment only as to counts three, ten, and eleven. See Defs.' Mot. at 1; see also Compl. ¶¶ 23-29, 63-72. The plaintiffs now challenge only the Director's redactions of Documents A and B pursuant to the deliberative process privilege of FOIA Exemption 5, see Pls.' Opp'n at 1, 5, which relates to count eleven of the plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint, see Compl. ¶ 68-72.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The Court must grant a motion for summary judgment "if the 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). When ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the Court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Holcomb v. Powell, 433 F.3d 889, 895 (D.C. Cir. 2006) (citing Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., 530 U.S. 133, 150, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000) ). The Court must therefore draw "all justifiable inferences" in the non-moving party's favor and accept the non-moving party's evidence as true. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The non-moving party, however, cannot rely on "mere allegations or denials." Burke v. Gould, 286 F.3d 513, 517 (D.C. Cir. 2002) (quoting Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505 ). Thus, "[c]onclusory allegations unsupported by factual data will not create a triable issue of fact." Pub. Citizen Health Research Grp. v. FDA, 185 F.3d 898, 908 (D.C. Cir. 1999) (Garland, J., concurring) (alteration in original) (quoting Exxon Corp. v. FTC, 663 F.2d 120, 126-27 (D.C. Cir. 1980) ). If the Court concludes that "the nonmoving party has failed to make a sufficient showing on an essential element of [its] case with respect to which [it] has the burden of proof," then the moving party is entitled to summary judgment. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

"FOIA cases typically are resolved on a motion for summary judgment." Ortiz v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 67 F.Supp.3d 109, 116 (D.D.C. 2014) ; see also Defs. of Wildlife v. U.S. Border Patrol, 623 F.Supp.2d 83, 87 (D.D.C. 2009). "[The] FOIA requires federal agencies to disclose, upon request, broad classes of agency records unless the records are covered by the statute's exemptions." Students Against Genocide v. U.S. Dep't of State, 257 F.3d 828, 833 (D.C. Cir. 2001).

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Related

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
477 U.S. 242 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Spirko v. United States Postal Service
147 F.3d 992 (D.C. Circuit, 1998)
Students Against Genocide v. Department of State
257 F.3d 828 (D.C. Circuit, 2001)
Burke, Kenneth M. v. Gould, William B.
286 F.3d 513 (D.C. Circuit, 2002)
National Ass'n of Home Builders v. Norton
309 F.3d 26 (D.C. Circuit, 2002)
Holcomb, Christine v. Powell, Donald
433 F.3d 889 (D.C. Circuit, 2006)
Sussman v. United States Marshals Service
494 F.3d 1106 (D.C. Circuit, 2007)
Exxon Corporation v. Federal Trade Commission
663 F.2d 120 (D.C. Circuit, 1980)
Arthur Andersen & Co. v. Internal Revenue Service
679 F.2d 254 (D.C. Circuit, 1982)
Access Reports v. Department of Justice
926 F.2d 1192 (D.C. Circuit, 1991)

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Bluebook (online)
302 F. Supp. 3d 290, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/james-madison-project-ken-dilanian-v-dept-of-justice-cadc-2018.