Johnson v. Federal Bureau of Investigation

118 F. Supp. 3d 784, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101509
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 4, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 14-1720
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 118 F. Supp. 3d 784 (Johnson v. Federal Bureau of Investigation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, 118 F. Supp. 3d 784, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101509 (E.D. Pa. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

PRATTER, District Judge."

I. Factual Background 1

In October 2004, after a trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Odell Corley was convicted of a number of crimes, including capital murder and attempted armed bank robbery, in connection with an August 2002 attempted robbery of the First State Bank of Porter, Pines Branch (the “Pines Bank”) in Indiana. In December 2014, Mr. Corley was sentenced to death on the capital murder convictions and to imprisonment for the other convictions.1 Mr. Corley’s convictions and sentences were affirmed on appeal.

In January 2010, again in the Northern District of Indiana, Mr. Corley filed a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentences. The § 2255 motion remains active in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.

Jessica Leigh Johnson is an investigator for the Federal Community Defender Office -(“FCDO”) in Philadelphia. The FCDO represents Mr. Corley in his post-[789]*789conviction litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana. On November 30, 2011, in connection with Mr. Corley’s § 2255 motion, Ms. Johnson submitted a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request to the FBI Laboratory Division for any and all records concerning the FBI’s investigation of the attempted robbery of the Pines Bank. The FBI searched its Central Records System for responsive records and, on February 9, 2012, informed Ms. Johnson that the requested material is located in an investigative file exempt from disclosure pursuant to FOIA Exemption 7(A).2 Ms. Johnson appealed the FBI’s decision to the Department of Justice Office of Information Policy (“OIP”), which remanded Ms. Johnson’s request to the FBI for further processing of the responsive records. On remand, the FBI reopened Ms. Johnson’s FOIA request, and on December 6, 2012, notified Ms. Johnson .that it had located approximately 5,827 pages of potentially responsive records. After Ms. Johnson committed to paying the estimated costs for the requested material, the FBI located additional responsive materials comprised of 23 electronic media items.

On May 3, 2013, the FBI informed Ms. Johnson that it had reviewed 856 pages of potentially responsive records and had decided to release 95 pages in part, with certain- information exempted from disclosure pursuant to FOIA Exemptions 7(A) and 7(E).3 The FBI stated that the material Ms. Johnson had requested was located in an investigative file exempt from disclosure pursuant to FOIA Exemption 7(A). On May 22, 2013, the FBI made its second and final release of records to Ms. Johnson. The FBI said it had reviewed 5,059 pages of potentially responsive records and had decided to release 86 pages in part, with certain information exempted from disclosure pursuant to FOIA Exemptions 7(A) and 7(E).

On July 5, 2013, Ms. Johnson again appealed to the Justice Department’s OIP, which, on September 6, 2013, affirmed the FBI’s actions and found that the FBI properly withheld certain information that was protected from disclosure under FOIA Exemption 7(A).

On March 25, 2014, Ms. Johnson filed the complaint in this case. Now, Ms. Johnson and the FBI have filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The FBI cites Exemptions 3, 5, 6, 7(A), 7(D), and 7(E) as the bases for its positions, and has produced declarations by two agents familiar with the FBI’s records and record-keeping practices (the “Hardy Declaration” and the “Grist Declaration”) to that effect. Ms. Johnson argues that the FBI’s invocation of Exemption 7(A) as a categorical exemption is inappropriate, and that the FBI has failed to connect particular documents or types, of documents to particular claimed exemptions, so it cannot satisfy its burden under the FOIA

II. Legal Standard

The FOIA mandates broad disclosure of government records to the pub[790]*790lic, subject to nine enumerated exemptions. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(b); CIA v. Sims, 471 U.S. 159, 166, 105 S.Ct. 1881, 85 L.Ed.2d 173 (1985). The purpose of the FOIA is “to facilitate public access to Government documents,” and its “dominant objective” is “disclosure, not secrecy.” Sheet Metal Workers Int’l Ass’n, Local Union No. 19 v. U.S. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, 135 F.3d 891, 897 (3d Cir.1998). In light of the FOIA’s broad policy of disclosure, the Supreme Court has “consistently stated that FOIA exemptions are to be narrowly construed.” U.S. Dep’t of Justice v. Julian, 486 U.S. 1, 8, 108 S.Ct. 1606, 100 L.Ed.2d 1 (1988). Under the FOIA, “the burden is on the agency to sustain its action.” 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B); see also U.S. Dep’t of State v. Ray, 502 U.S. 164, 173, 112 S.Ct. 541, 116 L.Ed.2d 526 (1991) (“[T]he strong presumption in favor of disclosure places the burden on the agency to justify the withholding of any requested documents.”). The district court reviews de novo the agency’s use of a FOIA exemption to withhold documents. See U.S. Dep’t of Justice v. Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press, 489 U.S. 749, 755, 109 S.Ct. 1468, 103 L.Ed.2d 774 (1989).

An agency meets its burden under the FOIA when it submits a “reasonably detailed affidavit” describing the method it used to search for responsive materials, Roman v. Dep’t of the Air Force, 952 F.Supp.2d 166, 173 (D.D.C.2013), and “describing the material withheld and detailing why it fits within the claimed exemption.” McDonnell v. United States, 4 F.3d 1227, 1241 (3d Cir.1993); Lame v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 654 F.2d 917, 928 (3d Cir.1981) (noting that the district court “should have had an explanation by the FBI of why in each case disclosure would result in embarrassment or harassment either to the individual interviewed or to third parties”). Under Third Circuit precedent, the affidavit must “provide the ‘connective tissue’ between the document, the deletion, the exemption and the explanation.” Davin v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 60 F.3d 1043, 1051 (3d Cir.1995).

It is generally insufficient for the agency to simply cite categorical codes in connection with each withheld document, and then provide a generic explanation of what the codes signify. See King v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 830 F.2d 210, 223-34 (D.C.Cir.1987) (“A withholding agency must describe each document or portion thereof withheld, and for each withholding it must discuss the consequences of disclosing the sought-after information ...

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Taylor v. Cook County State's Attorney's Office
2025 IL App (1st) 231135 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2025)
Makiel v. Foxx
2023 IL App (1st) 221815-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2023)
Chase v. Bureau of Indian Affairs
District of Columbia, 2020
Johnson v. Federal Bureau of Investigation
186 F. Supp. 3d 386 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 2016)
Al-Turki v. Department of Justice
175 F. Supp. 3d 1153 (D. Colorado, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
118 F. Supp. 3d 784, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101509, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-federal-bureau-of-investigation-paed-2015.