Lamont v. Department of Justice

475 F. Supp. 761, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11293
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJuly 2, 1979
Docket76 Civ. 3092
StatusPublished
Cited by84 cases

This text of 475 F. Supp. 761 (Lamont v. Department of Justice) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lamont v. Department of Justice, 475 F. Supp. 761, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11293 (S.D.N.Y. 1979).

Opinion

OPINION

EDWARD WEINFELD, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Corliss Lamont, the subject of a three-decade period of surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), petitioned the Department of Justice (the “Department”) for disclosure of all FBI records containing information relating to him, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act of 1966 (“FOIA” or the “Act”). 1 In response, the Department released only 274 of the 2739 pages of material in its file on Lamont. He then commenced the instant lawsuit to compel release of the remainder, following which defendant disclosed an additional 1692 pages. Lamont continues to seek full disclosure of all documents and information, which the Department resists *765 upon claims of exemption from disclosure under the Act. 2

Both parties moved for summary judgment; in the alternative, plaintiff requested the Court to examine the withheld materials in camera to determine the validity of the Department’s claims of exemption. The Court referred the matter to a Magistrate, who supervised the agency’s compilation of an index that keys each withholding to a specific assertion of privilege. The index reflects (1) material released to Lamont without restrictions, (2) material from which portions have been deleted, with indications of such deletions, and (3) material that has been withheld entirely. The Department also submitted several affidavits of FBI agents familiar with the Lamont file supporting the claimed exemptions. 3 The Magistrate issued a report recommending that the Court not examine the nondisclosed material in camera, but instead grant the defendant’s motion for summary judgment based solely upon the Government’s affidavits and index. Lamont urges rejection of the Magistrate’s recommendations and presses his motion for summary judgment or an in camera inspection.

The documents released by the Department provide a useful factual perspective for the legal arguments in the case. They reveal that the FBI’s thirty-year interest in plaintiff’s activities covers three distinct periods: (1) an intermittent investigation into his suspected connection with the Communist Party and its goals (1942-1953), (2) an intensive search for evidence and witnesses to support a perjury prosecution based upon his denial of membership in the Communist Party (1953-1955), and (3) a more generalized gathering of information concerning Lamont’s organizational activities and his financial contributions to certain groups (1955-1972).

1942-1953

In January 1944, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover directed the preparation of a report on Lamont. The report, dated June 24, 1944, stated that, according to various confidential informants, he was a member of the Communist Party and several so-called “Communist front” organizations and was the author of articles and books, “most of which have followed Marxist ideology, propagandized the Soviet Union and advocated close collaboration between the U.S. and Russia.” 4 Shortly thereafter, Lamont was placed on the “Security Index,” an .FBI surveillance program to monitor the activities of persons considered inimical to the country’s internal security. 5 One purpose of the investigation, which continued sporadically for the next nine years, was to obtain “admissible evidence which will prove directly or circumstantially his membership in or affiliation with the Communist Party, and knowledge of the revolutionary aims and purposes of that organization.” 6 Throughout his career Lamont persistently has denied any affiliation with the Communist Party. 7

*766 1953-1955

On September 23, 1953, Lamont affirmed before the McCarthy Committee of the United States Senate that “I am not now and never have been a member of the Communist Party.” 8 Thereafter the FBI, at the instigation of the Department of Justice, conducted an extensive investigation to obtain proof upon which to ground a perjury indictment. Despite a massive effort over an extended period, 9 detailed in reports labeled “SECURITY MATTER— C/PERJURY,” the FBI in September 1955 notified the Department that, having failed to locate witnesses necessary for a successful prosecution, it had concluded its investigation and had no plans for further evidence-gathering relating to a perjury prosecution. 10

1955-1972

After 1955, the FBI reports on plaintiff were less frequent, but he was nonetheless maintained on the Security Index after periodic agency review because he “continue[d] as Chairman of the Bill of Rights Fund and remain[ed] a contributor to various CP front groups”; 11 aside from Lamont’s financial contributions, his personal appearances and speeches in behalf of these organizations and his large production of books, articles, and pamphlets were constantly monitored as part of the Index surveillance. Thus the reports after 1955 contain information relating primarily to Lamont’s travels, his writings and lectures, and his contact with public groups suspected of affiliation with or instigation by the Communist Party — the National Committee for Anglo-Soviet Friendship, the American Committee for Protection of the Foreign Born, the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, and the Bill of Rights Fund. 12 Many of these reports are of a pedestrian nature, recording his comings and goings and reiterating large blocks of material culled from prior reports. Although it does not appear that serious consideration was given to the possibility of prosecution for any federal crimes after 1955, 13 Lamont’s file remained open until 1972, when his *767 name was removed from “ADEX,” the suecessor program to the Security Index.

I

FOIA In Camera Review

Conceding that the Act reflects “ ‘a general philosophy of full agency disclosure,’ ” 14 the Department relies on two of the FOIA’s exemptions from disclosure to sustain its withholdings: Exemption 1, which protects properly classified national security material, and Exemption 7, which shields certain investigatory records compiled for law enforcement proposes. 15 The Magistrate found that since “the investigation of plaintiff involved ‘national security’ and also possible violation of various criminal statutes,” the threshold requirements of the two exemptions were satisfied; he recommended granting summary judgment to defendant based upon the further finding that the Department’s review of the material and its affidavits established a prima facie case for nondisclosure. Relying on

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Bluebook (online)
475 F. Supp. 761, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11293, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lamont-v-department-of-justice-nysd-1979.