Otero v. Dep't of Justice

292 F. Supp. 3d 245
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedFebruary 12, 2018
DocketCivil Action No. 14–2004 (BAH)
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 292 F. Supp. 3d 245 (Otero 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
Otero v. Dep't of Justice, 292 F. Supp. 3d 245 (D.C. Cir. 2018).

Opinion

BERYL A. HOWELL, Chief Judge

The plaintiff brings this action under the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), see 5 U.S.C. § 552, and the Privacy Act, see 5 U.S.C. § 552a, against the United States Department of Justice ("DOJ"), seeking information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") about himself, see generally Defs.' Mem. of P. & A. in Support *248of Defs.' Mot. for Summ. J. ("Defs.' Mem."), Ex. 1 ("Hardy Decl."), Ex. A, ECF No. 14-3. Pending before the Court is the defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 14, which, for the reasons discussed below, is granted.1

I. BACKGROUND

In connection with this litigation, FBI staff conducted "[a] thorough review of the many years of correspondence" with the plaintiff, and concluded that his prior FOIA request had been "fulfilled appropriately." Hardy Decl. ¶ 5. This review also revealed that the plaintiff "still owes $20.10 for duplication fees associated with [the] June 2000 release" of records responsive to FOIPA No. 430046-001. Id. ¶ 5 n.2; see id. , Ex. A (Letter to the plaintiff from John M. Kelso, Jr., Chief, Freedom of Information-Privacy Acts Section, dated June 7, 2000 at 2). Only two FOIA requests are relevant to this civil action: the first submitted on June 18, 2012, and the second on August 8, 2014. See Am. Compl. at 8. The plaintiff's Privacy Act claim pertains to his efforts, beginning in 1997, to remove an allegedly false "warning" stamped on top of his [FBI] file [suggesting] that he was an infected person or carrier of the AIDS/HIV virus." Id. at 7.

The plaintiff addressed his 2012 FOIA request to the FBI's Miami Field Office and sought "[c]opies of [his] U.S. Passport and the Naturalization for U.S. Citizenship Certificate." Hardy Decl. ¶ 8; id. , Ex. C at 1. Field Office staff forwarded the request to the FBI's headquarters in Washington, DC ("FBIHQ") for processing. Id. ¶ 9. FBIHQ staff acknowledged receipt of the request, which was assigned FOIPA No. 1193637-000, by letter dated July 2, 2012. Id. ; see id. Ex. D.

In response to the 2012 FOIA request, on "March 5, 2014, the FBI released seven (7) pages of responsive material ... with no redactions." Id. ¶ 12; see id. , Ex. G.2 The plaintiff timely filed an administrative appeal of the FBI's determination to the DOJ's Office of Information Policy ("OIP"), id. ¶ 13, and OIP assigned the matter a tracking number, AP-2014-02553, see Am. Compl. Ex. F. He not only challenged the FBI's determination, but also mentioned additional items described by the FBI's declarant as follows:

First, he claimed that the FBI had improperly withheld agency records. He referenced and included his FOIPA request of November 15, 1996, and appeared to be untimely appealing the withholding of those records. Second, he claimed that the FBI had improperly failed to correct his records under the Amendment request. Third, he appeared to claim that the FBI needed to correct another aspect of his record and that the FBI did not follow correct extradition procedures in his arrest. Fourth, he appeared to be making a new request for records related to the Top Ten Most *249Wanted. This appeal letter contained multiple exhibits of correspondence from former FOIPA requests, as well as FBI documents that had been released to Plaintiff.

Hardy Decl. ¶ 13; see generally id. , Ex. H. OIP affirmed, concluding that the FBI had "conducted an adequate, reasonable search for responsive records subject to the [FOIA]." Am. Compl., Ex. G at 1. With respect to the "various additional records" the plaintiff sought, OIP advised that the plaintiff could "not on appeal expand the scope of [his] original request, which was limited to a copies of [his] U.S. Passport and [his] 'Naturalization for U.S. Citizenship Certificate.' " Id. , Ex. G at 1. Rather, OIP suggested that the plaintiff submit a new FOIA request to the FBI. Id. , Ex. G at 1. Similarly, insofar as the plaintiff sought "amendment of the medical information maintained in the FBI's files," OIP advised the plaintiff to "make an amendment request directly to the FBI" under the Privacy Act. Id. , Ex. G at 1.

By letter dated August 8, 2014, the plaintiff submitted a new FOIA request to the FBI. Hardy Decl. ¶ 16. Contained therein was a request for amendment of FBI records. See id. , Ex. K at 3, 7-10. The FOIA portion of this second request, which was assigned FOIPA No. 1304654-000, see id. , Ex.

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292 F. Supp. 3d 245, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/otero-v-dept-of-justice-cadc-2018.