Pinson v. U.S. Dep't of Justice
Pinson v. U.S. Dep't of Justice
Opinion of the Court
I. INTRODUCTION
Pro se Plaintiff Jeremy Pinson has filed multiple Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"),
Now before the Court are DOJ's renewed motions for summary judgment as to two of Pinson's remaining FOIA requests. Defs.' Renewed Mot. Summ. J. ("Defs.' MSJ (409)"), ECF No. 409; Defs.' Renewed Mot. Summ. J. ("Defs.' MSJ (412)"), ECF No. 412. For the reasons set forth below, the Court denies both motions for summary judgment.
II. BACKGROUND
The Court has explained the factual background of this case in detail in its prior Memorandum Opinions. See Pinson ,
*125Pinson ,
A. Request No. 13-1085
Pinson submitted a FOIA request seeking, inter alia , "copies of all discovery material" in the case of United States v. Garcia , No. 11-cr-68-EJL, in the District of Idaho. Luczynski Decl. (Oct. 20, 2016), Ex. I, ECF No. 332-3. Pinson limited her request to "no more than 150 pages ... and no more than 2 hours search time."
After this Court denied DOJ's third motion for summary judgment,
B. Request No. 12-1757
In a letter dated February 26, 2012, Ms. Pinson requested the "production of all documents, email, or records" for, inter alia , cases 10-cv-949 and 11-cv-1906. Luczynski Decl. (Dec. 11, 2015), Ex. Y, ECF No. 254-4. Pinson did not explicitly limit the number of pages to be produced or the search time to be occupied by this request. See id. She did later clarify that this request also sought public records, but was not limited to them. Luczynski Decl. (Dec. 11, 2015), Ex. T, ECF No. 254-4.
After this Court denied DOJ's third motion for summary judgment,
III. LEGAL STANDARD
"[T]o prevail in a Freedom of Information Act suit, 'the defending agency must prove that each document that falls within the class requested either has been produced, is unidentifiable or is wholly exempt from the Act's inspection requirements.' " Weisberg v. U.S. Dep't of Justice ,
Under FOIA, an adequate search is one that is "reasonably calculated to uncover all relevant documents." Morley v. CIA ,
In a case such as this one, where the requester initially challenges the agency's response but does not consistently articulate specific objections to the agency's releases, the Court is mindful that summary judgment cannot be granted as conceded and that it must independently evaluate whether any issues of material fact exist. "Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a motion for summary judgment cannot be 'conceded' for want of opposition." Winston & Strawn, LLP v. McLean ,
IV. ANALYSIS
DOJ's renewed motions for summary judgment argue that it has performed adequate searches with respect to Request Nos. 13-1085 and 12-1757 and released all non-exempt documents. Pinson has not raised any objections to these motions, but the Court nonetheless considers whether DOJ has demonstrated that it is entitled to summary judgment.
A. Request No. 13-1085
DOJ asserts that EOUSA adequately searched and properly released records responsive to Request No. 13-1085. Defs.' Mem. (409) at 3. EOUSA's declaration provides a general description of the search, including details of the records system that was searched, the amount of time used to conduct the search, and the scope of the search, which was limited to public records. See Narkin Decl. (Oct. 24, 2017) at 2-3. However, the record does not clearly indicate which docket number was used to conduct the search, and even suggests that the wrong docket number may have been used. See, e.g. , Luczynski Decl. (Dec. 13, 2017) at 2. For this reason, the Court denies EOUSA's motion for summary judgment as to Request No. 13-1085.
FOIA searches are inadequate when the incorrect search term is used to retrieve responsive records. See Kleinert v. Bureau of Land Mgmt. ,
Pinson's FOIA request sought records in the District of Idaho case United States v. Garcia , No. 11-cr-68. Defs.' SMF (409) ¶ 1. DOJ claims in its briefing that it conducted a search for records in that case, which is also called United States v. Apodaca , No. 11-cr-68. See id. ¶¶ 3-4. However, while EOUSA's FOIA contact in Idaho stated in her declaration that she "utilized ... Courtlink, to retrieve the criminal case docket of United States v. Apodaca ," Narkin Decl. ¶ 9, she did not reference which case number was used in conducting the search. Additionally Mr. Luczynski, an Attorney Advisor at EOUSA, stated in his declaration that the 949 pages of materials produced by the FOIA contact's search came from a District of Idaho case numbered 12-cr-236, rather than one numbered 11-cr-68, see Luczynski Decl. (Dec. 13, 2017) at 2, and in a letter from the Assistant Director of EOUSA to Pinson regarding the release of 949 pages of public records purportedly responsive to Request No. 13-1085, the subject of the request was listed as "12-cr-236 (D ID)," Luczynski Decl. (Dec. 13, 2017), Ex. A. EOUSA's two references to 12-cr-236, along with the absence of a search term mentioned in the FOIA contact's declaration, suggests that the wrong case *128number may have been used in searching for materials Pinson requested. Therefore, the Court will deny summary judgment as to Request No. 13-1085 until EOUSA clarifies that the correct search terms were used to perform a search reasonably calculated to uncover all relevant documents.
B. Request No. 12-1757
DOJ also asserts that EOUSA adequately searched and properly released records responsive to Request No. 12-1757. See Defs.' Mem. (412) at 5. However, because EOUSA has not explained how it conducted the search with sufficient detail, summary judgment is denied.
EOUSA's original declaration provided a "general description of the search, including describing all of the records systems that were searched and explaining why those systems were likely to contain all responsive records." Pinson ,
While DOJ indicates in its brief that the search was performed "with an intent to provide all documents contained therein, including public records," Defs.' Mem. (412) at 4 (emphasis in original), DOJ's submitted materials have not explained why Luczynski's October 20, 2016 declaration stated that a search was conducted for only "publicly filed responsive records," Luczynski Decl. (Oct. 20, 2016) ¶ 13 (emphasis added). And although Matuszewski's updated declaration maintains that "all documents" found were forwarded to EOUSA, this was a mere restatement of her original declaration, which the Court found to be unclear as to whether the search was limited to only public documents. Matuszewski Decl. (Dec. 20, 2017) ¶¶ 18-19; see Pinson ,
Therefore, although EOUSA's updated declaration sufficiently explains the search terms used, it fails to clarify the other matters this Court highlighted when denying in part DOJ's third motion for summary judgment as to Request 12-1757. Therefore, the Court once again denies summary judgment as to this request, and will continue to do so until EOUSA provides a declaration that adequately explains whether the FOIA contact's search was limited to public documents, as well as the discrepancy between the pages located and those released. If the discrepancy is simply due to mistake, error, and/or sloppiness, then EOUSA must state so. But simply providing slightly different sworn statements with each subsequent motion, without explaining the discrepancies that exist in prior sworn statements, will not do.
V. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, Defendants' Renewed Motions for Summary Judgment with respect to EOUSA (ECF Nos. 409, 412) are DENIED . An order consistent *129with this Memorandum Opinion is separately and contemporaneously issued.
Pinson identifies using feminine pronouns. This Court adopts Pinson's usage. See Pinson v. U.S. Dep't of Justice ,
The Court denied DOJ's third motion for summary judgment as to Request No. 13-1085 because DOJ did not submit an affidavit supporting its claim that it could not release information regarding the District of Idaho case due to discovery being subject to a protective order. Pinson ,
The Court denied DOJ's third motion for summary judgment as to Request No. 12-1757 because it was not sufficiently detailed. See Pinson ,
Although the Court assumes that the incorrect docket number is simply a typographical error, summary judgment cannot be granted based on such an assumption.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jeremy PINSON v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published