Robbins v. United States Bureau of Land Management

219 F.R.D. 685, 58 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 219, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1565, 2004 WL 232744
CourtDistrict Court, D. Wyoming
DecidedJanuary 14, 2004
DocketNo. 03-CV-230-D
StatusPublished

This text of 219 F.R.D. 685 (Robbins v. United States Bureau of Land Management) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Wyoming primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robbins v. United States Bureau of Land Management, 219 F.R.D. 685, 58 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 219, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1565, 2004 WL 232744 (D. Wyo. 2004).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO COMPEL PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS AND ENJOIN DEFENDANTS FROM WITHHOLDING DOCUMENTS

BEAMAN, United States Magistrate Judge.

The above-entitled matter, having come before the Court on plaintiffs Motion to Compel Production of Documents and Enjoin Defendants from Withholding Documents, and the Court having carefully considered the motion and responses thereto, and being fully advised in the premises FINDS:

1. This action originally comes before the Court on the plaintiffs claims under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B), as amended, and 43 C.F.R. § 2.17 (2000), to compel the production of records by the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”). Specifically, the plaintiff seek the production of documents requested by the plaintiff between February 17, 2003 and October 3, 2003.

2. In the instant motion, plaintiff requests that the Court enter an order compelling the defendants to produce documents in compliance with plaintiffs multiple FOIA requests. The plaintiff states that he has been involved in litigation with employees of the Worland, Wyoming Office of the BLM since 1998. As part of the ongoing litigation, the [686]*686plaintiff allegedly made ten FOIA requests to the BLM from February 17, 2003 to October 3, 2003, and the BLM has not responded to seven of those ten requests.

The plaintiff alleges that he has attempted to obtain many of these documents through routine discovery in a separate federal court action, but the BLM has refused to produce these documents through discovery on the grounds that the proper method of obtaining these documents is through FOIA. The plaintiff argues that this is not the first time he has had to force the Worland BLM to comply with FOIA. According to the plaintiff, as part of a consolidated administrative hearing in 2001, he made several FOIA requests to the Worland BLM. The plaintiff states that the BLM failed to respond to six of the requests and he was forced to file a complaint with this Court seeking to force the Worland BLM to comply with its statutory obligations. The plaintiff provides an explanation of the case as stated by the United States District Court, for the District of Wyoming, the Honorable William F. Downes presiding:

On September 5, 2001, after the BLM failed to respond to any of the six FOIA requests, the Plaintiff filed a complaint, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B), to compel the BLM to comply with the requests. After this litigation was filed, the BLM finally decided to respond to the Plaintiffs requests. Curiously, the Plaintiffs attorneys received the BLM’s FOIA responses on the very day that the trial for which some of the information was being sought began.

See Order on Application for an Award of Attorney’s Fees and Costs, at 2 (Robbins v. BLM, Civ. No. 01-CV-158-D). The plaintiff contends that the BLM’s failure to comply with the requirements of FOIA harmed his ability to defend himself against decisions issued by the BLM. Subsequently, the plaintiff states that he filed for an award of attorney fees. However, the Court held that since BLM complied with Mr. Robbins’ FOIA requests, Mr. Robbins was not entitled to attorney fees. See Buckhannon Bd. & Care Home v. West Virginia Dep’t of Health & Human Resources, 532 U.S. 598, 121 S.Ct. 1835, 149 L.Ed.2d 855 (2001). The plaintiff claims that the Court provided a strong condemnation of the Worland BLM’s conduct:

This result should not be interpreted as a condoning of the BLM’s conduct in this matter. Arrogance of authority, and indifference to citizens’ legitimate interests, even the appearance of such vices, should be avoided by public servants. The BLM’s conduct in this matter is troubling to this Court and it will not soon be forgotten. A matter of this nature involving this agency should not appear on my desk again.

Order on Application for an Award of Attorney’s Fees and Costs, at 5 (Robbins v. BLM, Civ. No. 01-CV-158-D).

The plaintiff argues that FOIA is a disclosure statute for the purpose of ensuring an informed citizenry and to hold government accountable. The plaintiff provides that under FOIA each agency, upon a request for records, shall determine within 20 days whether to comply with the request and shall notify the person making the request and the reasons therefor. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(A)(i). However, the plaintiff suggests that the BLM regulation shortens the applicable time to respond to ten days. 43 C.F.R. § 2.17.

The plaintiff states that all ten of the FOIA records requested between February 17, 2003 and October 3, 2003, were made in accordance with the FOIA procedures. In addition, the plaintiff states that all ten requests were sent by certified mail. According to the plaintiff, the BLM has not responded to seven of the ten requests, and only partially responded to three of the requests. The plaintiff argues that “the facts and circumstances clearly indicate that the Worland BLM is ignoring or abusing the FOIA process in an attempt to chill Mr. Robbins’ lawful attempt to prepare for a trial against individual Worland BLM employees in his separate litigation, ... just as they did in the administrative hearing process in 2001.” Plaintiff’s Motion, at 6. The plaintiff states that BLM has refused to now provide these documents through discovery in this case on the claim that the plaintiff must obtain these documents through FOIA. The plaintiff asserts that the BLM has consistently refused to provide the requested docu[687]*687ments under FOIA. Specifically, the plaintiff alleges that the BLM has denied the documents under exemption 5 of FOIA.

The plaintiff contends that exemptions under FOIA are to be narrowly construed. Dep’t of Air Force v. Rose, 425 U.S. 352, 361, 96 S.Ct. 1592, 48 L.Ed.2d 11 (1976); Herrick v. Garvey, 298 F.3d 1184, 1189 (10th Cir.2002). In addition, the plaintiff argues that the burden is on the agency to justify the exemption. Herrick, 298 F.3d at 1189. Further, the plaintiff claims that “[t]o satisfy its initial burden under the Act, the agency 'must provide a detailed analysis of the requested documents and the reasons for invoking the particular exemption.’” Plaintiff’s Motion, at 7 (quoting Johnson v. U.S. Dept. of Justice, 739 F.2d 1514, 1516 (10th Cir.1984)) overruled on other grounds Hale v. U.S. Dept. of Justice, 2 F.3d 1055 (10th Cir.1993).

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219 F.R.D. 685, 58 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 219, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1565, 2004 WL 232744, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robbins-v-united-states-bureau-of-land-management-wyd-2004.