Ruiz v. United States Department of Justice

636 F. Supp. 2d 85, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61647, 2009 WL 2143826
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJuly 20, 2009
DocketCivil Action 08-1968 (CKK)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 636 F. Supp. 2d 85 (Ruiz v. United States Department of Justice) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ruiz v. United States Department of Justice, 636 F. Supp. 2d 85, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61647, 2009 WL 2143826 (D.D.C. 2009).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

COLLEEN KOLLAR-KOTELLY, District Judge.

In this action brought under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. *87 § 552, plaintiff, proceeding pro se, challenges the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for United States Attorney’s (“EOUSA”) response to his request for bond records. Defendant moves to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and for summary judgment under Rule 56. Based on the parties’ submissions and the entire record, the Court, relying on matters beyond the pleadings, will grant defendant’s motion for summary judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

By letter of July 19, 2007, plaintiff sought “disclosure of criminal bonds, bonding, bid bond, performance bonds, payment bond and Miller Act reinsurance bonds held by Autotris/Cusip ... and other government agencies.” Compl. Ex. 1. By letter dated August 21, 2007, EOUSA acknowledged receipt of plaintiffs request for “Self (bonds only)/FLS [Southern District of Florida].” Def.’s Mot., Deck of Dione Jackson Stearns (“Stearns’ Deck”), Ex. D. By letter of August 27, 2007, plaintiff, “to try to reduce fees,” revised his request to “All Bid Bond, Rerformance [sic] Bond, Payment Bond, Miller Act Reinsurance Bonds Held by Government Agencies, Held by Cusip Number # 248458589-248-45-8589, Case # 97-00099-CR.” Id., Ex. E. at 2. On March 5, 2008, EOUSA received six pages of records pertaining to plaintiff from the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida, but determined that they were not responsive to plaintiffs request. 1 Sterns Deck ¶¶ 12-13. EOUSA informed plaintiff by letter of March 13, 2008, that its search conducted in the Southern District of Florida located no responsive records. Id., Ex. F.

Plaintiff appealed to the Office of Information and Privacy (“OIP”), which determined that the aforementioned six pages were responsive and remanded plaintiffs request to EOUSA for processing of those pages. Id. ¶¶ 14-16. EOUSA, in turn, released the six pages to plaintiff in their entirety by letter dated August 8, 2008. Id., Ex. J. Plaintiff filed this civil action on November 17, 2008. By letter dated January 21, 2009, EOUSA released “as a matter of discretion” an additional five pages in their entirety, described as “the Order on Sentencing.” Id., Ex. K.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Summary judgment is appropriate upon a showing that there is “no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). “[A] material fact is ‘genuine’ ... if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party” on an element of the claim. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

The FOIA requires a federal agency to release all records responsive to a properly submitted request except those protected from disclosure by one or more of nine enumerated exemptions. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(b). The agency’s disclosure obligations are triggered by its receipt of a request that “reasonably describes [the requested] records” and “is made in accordance with published rules stating the time, place, fees (if any), and procedures to be followed.” 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3)(A). The FOIA authorizes the court only “to enjoin [a federal] agency from withholding agency records or to order the production of any agency records improperly withheld *88 from the complainant.” 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B). Thus, the elements of a FOIA claim are (1) improperly (2) withheld (3) agency records. “Judicial authority to devise remedies and enjoin agencies can only be invoked under the jurisdictional grant conferred by [5 U.S.C.] § 552 [ (a)(4)(B) ], if the agency has contravened all three components of this obligation.” Kissinger v. Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press, 445 U.S. 136, 150, 100 S.Ct. 960, 63 L.Ed.2d 267 (1980).

In a FOIA case, the Court may award summary judgment to an agency solely on the information provided in affidavits or declarations when they describe “the justifications for nondisclosure with reasonably specific detail, demonstrate that the information withheld logically falls within the claimed exemption, and are not controverted by either contrary evidence in the record nor by evidence of agency bad faith.” Military Audit Project v. Casey, 656 F.2d 724, 738 (D.C.Cir.1981); see also Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820, 826 (D.C.Cir.1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 977, 94 S.Ct. 1564, 39 L.Ed.2d 873 (1974). In opposing a summary judgment motion, plaintiff may not “replace conclusory allegations of the complaint or answer with conclusory allegations of an affidavit,” Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation, 497 U.S. 871, 888, 110 S.Ct. 3177, 111 L.Ed.2d 695 (1990), but rather must “set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

III. DISCUSSION

Plaintiff claims that defendant committed fraud by initially providing a “no records” response to his request but then later releasing records. See generally Pl.’s Opp’n [Dkt. No. 23]. 2 But “however fitful or delayed the release of information under the FOIA may be, once all requested records are surrendered, federal courts have no further statutory function to perform.” Perry v. Block, 684 F.2d 121, 125 (D.C.Cir.1982); see Boyd v. Criminal Div. of U.S. Dep’t. of Justice, 475 F.3d 381, 388 (D.C.Cir.2007) (“[B]ecause the report was located in the work file and subsequently disclosed, the issue is moot for purposes of this FOIA action.”) (citing Perry).

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Bluebook (online)
636 F. Supp. 2d 85, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61647, 2009 WL 2143826, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ruiz-v-united-states-department-of-justice-dcd-2009.