Lopez v. Nat'l Archives & Records Admin.

301 F. Supp. 3d 78
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedMarch 15, 2018
DocketCivil Action No. 17–0133 (ABJ)
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 301 F. Supp. 3d 78 (Lopez v. Nat'l Archives & Records Admin.) 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
Lopez v. Nat'l Archives & Records Admin., 301 F. Supp. 3d 78 (D.C. Cir. 2018).

Opinion

AMY BERMAN JACKSON, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Edwin Lopez brought this action under three statutes: the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), 5 U.S.C. § 552, the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, and the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 ("JFK Records Act"), 44 U.S.C. § 2107. He seeks to compel the National Archives and Records Administration ("NARA"); David S. Ferriero, sued in his official capacity as the Archivist of the United States; and the Central Intelligence Agency ("CIA"), to produce various documents that relate to him. Am. Compl. [Dkt. # 18].1

*82Pending before the Court is defendants' renewed motion for judgment on the pleadings and plaintiff's cross-motion for summary judgment. For the reasons that follow, the Court will grant defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings and deny plaintiff's motion.

BACKGROUND

The Court accepts as true the following facts set out in plaintiff's amended complaint for the purposes of resolving the pending motion for judgment on the pleadings.2 On December 19, 2014, plaintiff submitted a request for records pursuant to FOIA, the Privacy Act, and the JFK Records Act with NARA. Am. Compl. ¶ 8; Ex. 1 to Am. Compl. [Dkt. # 25-1] ("Request").

Plaintiff sought production of the following four items:

1. The 40-page document which is described by RIF #104-10175-10085 (hereafter referred to as "the Ed Lopez file." [sic ];
2. Any record reflecting a vote by the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB) to designating [sic ] the Lopez file as "NBR" ("Not Believed Relevant") or similar status or determining that its disclosure should be withheld for a particular period of time, including until 2017;
3. Any record of the CIA or any other agency reflecting the belief that the Lopez file should or might be given "NBR" status or that its disclosure should be postponed for any period of time, including until the year 2017; and
4. Any record reflecting that the disclosure of the Lopez file should be postponed in whole or in part for any period of time, including until 2017, was transmitted to, and published in, the Federal Register in accordance with the procedures of the JFK Act.

Request; see also Am. Compl. ¶ 8.

On January 7, 2015, NARA sent plaintiff a letter acknowledging that it had received the request on December 23, 2014, and assigned it the request reference number NW 44935. Am. Compl. ¶ 9; Ex. 2 to Am. Compl. [Dkt. # 25-1]. On January 26, 2015, Martha Wagner Murphy, Chief of the Special Access and FOIA staff to NARA, informed Joseph W. Lambert, Director of the Information Management Services at CIA, of the request and forwarded a copy. Am. Compl. ¶ 10; Ex. 3 to Am. Compl. [Dkt. # 25-1] ("Ex. 3"). She asked that he inform NARA of the CIA's determination and any "sanitizing instructions" since "a full-text copy of the requested *83document is in [CIA's] files." Am. Compl. ¶ 10; Ex. 3.

On May 27, 2015, Michael Lavergne of the CIA responded to Murphy, and he advised her that CIA had located and reviewed the Lopez File and had determined that "it is currently and properly classified and must be denied in its entirety on the basis of FOIA exemptions (b)(1) [classified records] and (b)(3) [records exempted by other statutes]." Am. Compl. ¶ 11; Ex. 4 to Am. Compl. [Dkt. # 25-1] ("Ex. 4"). The CIA cited to section 6 of the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949, and section 102A(i)(1) of the National Security Act of 1947 to support the use of the exemptions. Am. Compl. ¶ 11; Ex. 4.

By letter dated June 9, 2015, NARA informed plaintiff of the CIA determination to withhold the Lopez File in full pursuant to the two FOIA exemptions. Am. Compl. ¶ 12; Ex. 5 to Am. Compl. [Dkt. # 25-1] ("Ex. 5"). NARA also advised plaintiff that a search of the closed records of the Assassination Records Review Board had been made "and no information was found" responsive to the remainder of his request. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 12-13; Ex. 5. Finally, NARA advised plaintiff that he had the right to administratively appeal the decision within sixty days of the date of the letter. See Ex. 5.3 Plaintiff alleges that after he received NARA's letter, there were no further communications with NARA or CIA. Am. Compl. ¶ 14.

On June 1, 2017, plaintiff filed an amended complaint asserting claims under FOIA (Count I), the Privacy Act (Count II), and the JFK Records Act (Count III). Am. Compl. On June 12, 2017, defendants renewed their motion for judgment on the pleadings under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c). Renewed Mot. for J. on the Pleadings [Dkt. # 19] ("Defs.' Mot."); Mem. of P. & A. in Supp. of Defs.' Mot. [Dkt. # 19] ("Defs.' Mem."). Plaintiff opposed the motion and also filed a cross-motion for summary judgment on July 3, 2017. Pl.'s Resp. to Defs.' Mot. & Pl.'s Renewed Cross-Mot. for Summ. J. [Dkt. ## 20-21] ("Pl.'s Opp. & Cross-Mot."); Mem. of Opposing P. & A. in Resp. to Defs.' Mot. & in Supp. of Pl.'s Opp. & Cross-Mot.) [Dkt. ## 20-21] ("Pl.'s Opp. & Cross-Mem.).4 The motions have been fully briefed.5

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c) authorizes a party to move for judgment on the pleadings at any time "after the pleadings are closed." Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(c).6 Parties are entitled to pretrial judgment *84on the pleadings "if the moving party demonstrates that no material fact is in dispute and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Schuler v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP , 514 F.3d 1365, 1370 (D.C. Cir. 2008), quoting Peters , 966 F.2d at 1485. When analyzing a motion for judgment on the pleadings, the Court must "view the facts presented in the pleadings and the inferences to be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party." Peters , 966 F.2d at 1485, quoting Jablonski , 863 F.2d at 290-91 ; see also Thompson v. Dist. of Columbia ,

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