Shapiro v. U.S. Department of Justice

78 F. Supp. 3d 508, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11566
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedFebruary 2, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 2013-0595
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 78 F. Supp. 3d 508 (Shapiro v. U.S. 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
Shapiro v. U.S. Department of Justice, 78 F. Supp. 3d 508, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11566 (D.D.C. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ROSEMARY M. COLLYER United States District Judge

Ryan Noah Shapiro brings suit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, seeking the release of any records held by the FBI that relate to “Occupy Houston,” an offshoot of *513 the protest movement and New York City encampment known as “Occupy Wall Street.” On March 12, 2014, the Court granted in part and denied in part FBI’s motion to dismiss or for summary judgment, directing FBI to provide more specificity for its withholding certain records pursuant to FOIA Exemption 7. See Shapiro v. U.S. Department of Justice (Shapiro I), Civ. No. 13-595, 37 F.Supp.3d 7, 2014 WL 953270 (D.D.C. Mar. 12, 2014). 1 FBI subsequently submitted to the Court a supplemental memorandum and declaration in support of its withholding decisions, as well as the records at issue. After conducting an in camera and ex parte review of the records, the Court will grant FBI’s Motion and dismiss this case. 2

I. FACTS

Inasmuch as Shapiro I set forth much of the factual and procedural background relevant here, the Court assumes familiarity with that decision and draws liberally from it. To summarize, Mr. Shapiro is a doctoral candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He seeks records generally concerning Occupy Houston as well as records regarding an alleged plot by unidentified actors to assassinate the leaders of Occupy Houston. Upon receiving Mr. Shapiro’s FOIA requests, FBI conducted a records search, identified seventeen pages of responsive records, produced five of those pages in part and entirely withheld twelve pages under FOIA Exemptions 1, 3, 6, 7(A), 7(C), 7(D), and 7(E). Id. 37 F.Supp.3d 7, 15-17, at *2-3. In Shapiro I, the Court found that FBI had conducted adequate searches for responsive records, had properly withheld records under Exemptions 1, 3, and 6, and could not reasonably segregate non-exempt information. Id. 37 F.Supp.3d at 24-26, 27-28, 29-30, at *10, 12, 14. The Court also found that FBI’s affiant had spoken in generalities without sufficient specifics to explain the applicability of Exemption 7, on which it partially relied to withhold some or all of some records. Id. 37 F.Supp.3d' at 28-30, at *13-14. The Court, therefore, directed FBI to provide more specificity on this point.

The Court’s initial decision was issued on March 12, 2014. On April 9, 2014, the FBI filed a Supplemental Memorandum [Dkt. 21] which also included a Third Declaration of David M. Hardy, Section Chief of FBI’s Record/Information Dissemination Section (RIDS), Records Management Division (Third Hardy Decl.) [Dkt. 21-1], Mr. Shapiro filed a Response on April 24, 2014 [Dkt. 23] and a Notice of Supplemental Authority on May 8, 2014 [Dkt. 24]. By Minute Order entered on June 4, 2014, the Court directed FBI to submit the records in dispute for in camera and ex parte review. These were submitted on June 28, 2014 [Dkt. 25] and Mr. Shapiro filed a Second Notice of Supplemental Authority on October 27, 2014 [Dkt. 26].

II. LEGAL STANDARDS and ANALYSIS

In Shapiro I, this Court denied FBI’s motion to dismiss on grounds of mootness and failure to state a claim. Thus, the only remaining question in this case is whether FBI’s motion for summary judg *514 ment is warranted based on its claim that it properly withheld information requested by Mr. Shapiro under FOIA Exemption 7.

A. Motion for Summary Judgment

Summary judgment is justified when there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(a); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A motion under Rule 56 is properly granted against a party who “after adequate time for discovery and upon motion ... fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In ruling on a motion for summary judgment, a court must draw all justifiable inferences in the nonmoving party’s favor and accept the nonmoving party’s evidence as true. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505. A nonmoving party, however, must establish more than “[t]he mere existence of a scintilla of evidence” in support of its position. Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

FOIA cases are typically and appropriately decided on motions for summary judgment. Miscavige v. IRS, 2 F.3d 366, 368 (11th Cir.1993); Rushford v. Civi-letti, 485 F.Supp. 477, 481 n. 13 (D.D.C. 1980), ajfd, Rushford v. Smith, 656 F.2d 900 (D.C.Cir.1981). In a FOIA case, a court may award summary judgment solely on the basis of information provided by the agency in affidavits or declarations when the affidavits or declarations describe “the documents and the justifica-

tions 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, 826-28 (D.C.Cir.1973) (requiring agencies to prepare an itemized index correlating each withheld document, or portion thereof, with a specific FOIA Exemption and the relevant part of the agency’s nondisclosure justification). An agency must demonstrate that “each document that falls within the class requested either has been produced, is unidentifiable, or is wholly [or partially] exempt” from FOIA’s requirements. Goland v. CIA 607 F.2d 339, 352 (D.C.Cir.1978) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

B. FOIA Exemption 7 3

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Shapiro v. United States Department of Justice
239 F. Supp. 3d 100 (District of Columbia, 2017)
Tracy v. U.S. Department of Justice
191 F. Supp. 3d 83 (District of Columbia, 2016)
Pinson v. U.S. Department of Justice
177 F. Supp. 3d 56 (District of Columbia, 2016)
Thelen v. United States Department of Justice
169 F. Supp. 3d 128 (District of Columbia, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
78 F. Supp. 3d 508, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11566, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shapiro-v-us-department-of-justice-dcd-2015.