Peck v. United States

88 F.R.D. 65, 8 Fed. R. Serv. 141, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17275
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 10, 1980
DocketNo. 76 Civ. 983(CES)
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 88 F.R.D. 65 (Peck v. United States) 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
Peck v. United States, 88 F.R.D. 65, 8 Fed. R. Serv. 141, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17275 (S.D.N.Y. 1980).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION

STEWART, District Judge.

Plaintiff James Peck has moved in this Court, pursuant to F.R.Civ.P. 26, 34 and 37, for an order requiring the defendant United States to permit the plaintiff to copy and inspect five different categories of documents. Defendant has objected to the plaintiff’s requests on grounds of privilege and relevance. The scope of discovery is set out in Rule 26, F.R.Civ.P. which provides, in relevant part:

(1) In General. Parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action, whether it relates to the claim or defense of the party seeking discovery or to the claim or defense of any other party, including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition and location of any books, documents, or other tangible things and the identity and location of persons having knowledge of any discoverable matter. It is not ground for objection that the information sought will be inadmissible at the trial if the information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.

For the reasons set forth below, plaintiff’s motion is denied in its entirety.

I Standards for Determining Relevance

The “subject matter” of this action is set out in our prior decision denying defendant’s motion to dismiss, 470 F.Supp. 1003 [68]*68(S.D.N.Y.1979). There we held that plaintiff had asserted a cause of action against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1346. Plaintiff alleged that various agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation [“FBI”] had advance knowledge of a conspiracy to assault participants in a 1961 “Freedom Ride” to Birmingham, Alabama and that although it had the power to prevent the resulting violence, it failed to do so. We held that these allegations, if proven, would establish a violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1986 and that, under Alabama law, this established negligence per se. An “immunity” defense was interposed which we held to be “qualified” only-i. e. based upon good faith and reasonable grounds. A further issue raised on the motion to dismiss was whether or not this action was barred by the two years statute of limitations. This action would be barred unless we were to apply a “due diligence-discovery” rule, and we held such a rule applicable only if the plaintiff was successful in establishing fraudulent concealment— an issue not ripe at that time for resolution.

The relevant time period for purposes of this discovery motion is that established by Magistrate Scheiber with respect to the various discovery motions made in connection with defendant’s motion to dismiss:

Then I will give it to you from nine months before [the May 14, 1961 assault] to three months after ... So all dates will be September 31, 1960 to August 3[1], 1961.

See Exhibit D to Salerno affidavit at 12.

II Task Force Report on Gary Thomas Rowe, Jr.

Plaintiff has moved for an order requiring the defendant United States:

(a) to permit plaintiff to inspect and copy all reports promulgated by the “Gary T. Rowe, Jr. Task Force”, all documents reviewed by or considered by said Task Force and all documents reflecting upon or referring to any or all reports by said Task Force.

The Gary T. Rowe, Jr. Task Force [“Task Force”] was apparently established in the latter part of 1978:

On July 12, 1978, Senators Edward M. Kennedy and James Abourezk indicated that the Senate Judiciary Committee was “intently interested” in receiving a full report of an investigation into allegations that Gary Thomas Rowe, Jr. committed a violent crime while acting as an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. As Acting Attorney General of the United States, I directed the office of Professional Responsibility to undertake an investigation into the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s handling of Gary T. Rowe, Jr. A Task Force was established by the Office of Professional Responsibility, and they did conduct an investigation of the matter.

Civiletti affidavit ¶ 5. As to the Report of the Task Force, Mr. Civiletti affirms that:

The material generated by the Gary T. Rowe, Jr. Task Force has been submitted to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General for review and recommendation. This Office can either return the material to the Office of Professional Responsibility for revision and further investigation or they can forward it to my attention with their recommendations. To date, the material has not been forwarded for my consideration, and I have made no decision with respect to the composition of a final report.

Id. ¶ 6. Mr. Civiletti then asserts:

I have conferred with those who prepared the Task Force Report, and with those who were responsible for the preparation of the Report, and I have personally considered the attached affidavit of Michael E. Shaheen, Jr., Counsel of Professional Responsibility, Department of Justice.
As Attorney General of the United States, after due deliberation and personal consideration, I formally claim privilege as to all documents and reports generated by the Gary T. Rowe, Jr. Task Force and its individual members.

Id. ¶¶ 3 and 4.

A. Scope of the Privilege

The privilege asserted here by Mr. Civiletti is referred to in Rule 509 of the Pro[69]*69posed Rules of Evidence Promulgated by the Supreme Court, as the “official information privilege.” Although this Proposed Rule was not adopted by Congress, it nevertheless serves as a “useful guide and standard” In re Franklin National Bank Securities Litigation, 478 F.Supp. 577, 580 (E.D.N.Y.1979) because it was intended to summarize existing case law defining the scope of the privilege. Under Proposed Rule 509 the Government has a qualified privilege. The Government may withhold material if it shows that there is a reasonable likelihood of danger that the evidence sought to be discovered will disclose information within the custody or control of a governmental department or agency (whether initiated within the department or agency or acquired by it in its exercise of its official responsibilities) and not otherwise available to the public pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552 [“FOIA”], particularly intragovernmental opinions or recommendations submitted for consideration in the performance of decisional or policy-making functions, see 5 U.S.C. § 522(b)(5), or investigatory files compiled for law enforcement purposes and not otherwise available, see 5 U.S.C. § 522(b)(7). The Government further must show that disclosure would be contrary to the public interest.

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Bluebook (online)
88 F.R.D. 65, 8 Fed. R. Serv. 141, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17275, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peck-v-united-states-nysd-1980.