Amro v. U.S. Customs Service
| Decision Date | 30 January 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV. A. 99-3786.,CIV. A. 99-3786. |
| Citation | 128 F.Supp.2d 776 |
| Parties | Rafic A. AMRO, M.D., Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES CUSTOMS SERVICE, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
Rafic A. Amro, M.D., Allentown, PA, pro se.
Nicholas Gilman, Law Offices of Thomas D. Hunt, Philadelphia, PA, Richard W. Kolosky, Richard W. Kolosky, P.C., Bethlehem, PA, for Rafic A. Amro, M.D.
Nadine M. Overton, James G. Sheehan, U.S. Attorney's Office, Philadelphia, PA, for U.S. Customs Service.
This is an action to compel two government agencies to produce documents in their possession under the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), 5 U.S.C. § 552, and the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a.
Plaintiff Rafic A. Amro, M.D. has submitted several requests to the United States Customs Agency ("Customs") and the Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") for production of documents in their possession. Customs and the DEA have responded to Dr. Amro's requests in part but have redacted or withheld the balance of the documents responsive to his requests on the basis of certain exemptions from disclosure they claim are available under the statutes.
Dr. Amro now seeks to compel production of the documents redacted or withheld by the agencies. Before the court are cross-motions for summary judgment.
The court finds that the Customs' documents were validly redacted under 5 U.S.C. §§ 522(b)(2) and (b)(7)(C) of the FOIA. Thus the court will grant Customs' motion for summary judgment. With regard to the documents redacted or withheld by DEA, the court finds that the information exempted under exemptions 5 U.S.C. §§ 552(b)(2), (b)(3), and (b)(7)(F) of the FOIA, and exemption 5 U.S.C. § 552a(j)(2) of the Privacy Act were properly withheld. However, because the court finds that the DEA has not adequately explained the reasons for redacting or withholding some materials under exemption 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(C), the court will deny in part and grant in part the DEA's motion for summary judgment regarding those documents.1 The DEA is ordered to provide a supplemental affidavit and revised Vaughn index explaining the decision to redact or withhold certain documents under exemption (b)(7)(C) described as "investigative details" in the DEA's index. The court will also deny plaintiff's cross-motion for summary judgment.
On May 31, 1999, Dr. Amro made a written request to Customs for documents pursuant to FOIA and/or the Privacy Act, including his "personnel file, phone records, computer records, notes, ect."2 See Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment ("Df's Motion"), doc. no. 16, Exhibit C. On July 8, 1999, Customs responded to Dr. Amro's request with a letter accompanied by a one-page computer print-out, redacted in part, explaining that the redactions were exempted from disclosure pursuant to two exemptions of FOIA. In the same letter, Customs notified plaintiff of his right to appeal the redactions to the FOIA Appeals Officer. In a follow-up letter dated August 4, 1999, Customs notified Dr. Amro that it was unable to locate any other documents responsive to his request. By letters dated July 12th and August 4th, 1999, Dr. Amro appealed the decision of Customs to the FOIA Appeals Officer. On September 29, 1999, the FOIA Appeals Officer upheld Customs' redactions. Having received a final determination from Customs, Dr. Amro filed the instant action in this court pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 522(a)(4)(B), naming Customs as a defendant.
On May 17, 1999, Dr. Amro requested from DEA his "personnel file[s]" allegedly located at DEA's offices in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Allentown. In addition to his personnel file, he also requested "related matter, phones, notes, and ect." DEA's Supplemental Brief, Exhibit A. On July 14, 1999, the DEA released several pages of documents, but redacted or withheld several others, claiming four exemptions under FOIA and one exemption under the Privacy Act. Dr. Amro appealed the DEA's decision to the Department of Justice, Office of Information and Privacy ("OIP"). By letter dated December 29, 1999, the OIP affirmed the DEA's redacting or withholding of documents. However, the OIP indicated that apparently the DEA had found additional records relating to Dr. Amro. In turn, the DEA released some of these newly-found documents, others were released with redactions, and some were withheld in their entirety. On February 16, 2000, the court granted Dr. Amro leave to amend his FOIA and Privacy Act complaint to include the DEA in his cause of action. On March 10, 2000, Dr. Amro filed an amended complaint joining the DEA as a defendant in this action and requesting disclosure of all redacted and withheld documents.
In response to Dr. Amro's amended complaint, Customs and the DEA filed motions to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment (doc. no. 16). Customs claims that the redactions were properly exempt from disclosure under the applicable statutory exceptions, that the redactions were described with reasonable specificity, and that it had demonstrated a logical connection between the redactions and the claimed exemption. Specifically, Customs argues that (1) it had provided Dr. Amro with a copy of all non-exempt documents in its possession and control,3 and (2) the material redacted from the documents were properly exempted under exemptions (b)(2) and (b)(7)(C) because the redacted material involves either "trivial administrative matters of no genuine public interest" or the identities of agency officials.
In turn, DEA argues that plaintiff has not exhausted his administrative remedies nor has he described the requested documents with sufficient particularity.4 In the alternative, the DEA claims that summary judgment is proper as the DEA's actions are fully explained with regard to all documents for which exemption from disclosure is claimed. In support of the motion, the DEA attached an affidavit, including a Vaughn index. In its affidavit and Vaughn index, the DEA asserts that documents were properly redacted or withheld under FOIA exemptions (b)(2), (b)(3), (b)(7)(C), (b)(7)(D), and (b)(7)(F) and Privacy Act exemption (j)(2).
In his cross motion for summary judgment (doc. no. 18), Dr. Amro challenges the applicability of the exemptions claimed by both Customs and DEA. With regard to Customs, Dr. Amro challenges the agency's assertion of exemption (b)(7)(C), arguing that Customs failed to adequately support the claimed exemption.5 With regard to the DEA's claim that Dr. Amro has not exhausted his administrative remedies, Dr. Amro points to his having sought review of the DEA's decision before the OIP. In addition, Dr. Amro claims that the DEA had failed to adequately support its (b)(7)(C), (b)(7)(D), and (j)(2) exemptions.6 Alternately, Dr. Amro asks the court to view the contested DEA materials in camera.
On September 13, 2000, the court held a hearing on the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court granted the DEA leave to submit a supplemental brief in support of its motion. On October 27, 2000, the DEA submitted further explanations for its redacting or withholding of documents under exemptions of the FOIA and the Privacy Act. Furthermore, in its supplemental brief, the DEA acknowledged that, since the time of the hearing, it had located several hundred more pages of documents referred to the DEA by the Executive Office for United States Attorneys ("EOUSA"). Dr. Amro had requested those documents from EOUSA at approximately the same time that he requested documents from Customs and DEA. After DEA reviewed the documents referred by EOUSA, DEA released some of these documents to Dr. Amro but redacted or withheld other portions based on FOIA exemptions (b)(2), (b)(7)(C), and (b)(7)(F) and Privacy Act exemption (j)(2). In support of these claims for exemption, the DEA submitted another affidavit as well as a revised Vaughn index concerning both the information previously released and the new information obtained from EOUSA.
FOIA requires federal agencies to make requested agency records available if the request "reasonably describes such records and ... is made in accordance with published rules stating the time, place, fees (if any), and procedures to be followed," unless the records fall within the statute's list of exemptions. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3). "The Act's `central purpose' is to ensure that Government activities are `opened to the sharp eye of public scrutiny.'" United States ex rel. Mistick PBT v. Housing Auth. Of City of Pittsburgh, 186 F.3d 376, 383 (3d Cir.1999) (quoting United States Dep't of Justice v. Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press, 489 U.S. 749, 774, 109 S.Ct. 1468, 103 L.Ed.2d 774 (1989)).
Judicial review of an agency's denial of a FOIA request is de novo. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B); Lame v. United States Dep't. of Justice, 654 F.2d 917, 921 (3d Cir.1981). Any reasonably segregable and non-exempt portion of a record must be disclosed. 5 U.S.C. § 552(b). The nine statutory disclosure exemptions are to be narrowly construed, and the burden is on the agency to sustain its action. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B); Sheet Metal Workers Int'l Assoc. v. United States Dep't of Veterans Affairs, 135 F.3d 891, 897 (3d Cir.1998). In this case, Customs has asserted FOIA exemptions (b)(2) and (b)(7)(C), and the DEA has asserted FOIA exemptions (b)(2), (b)(3), (b)(7)(C), and (b)(7)(F).7 The DEA has also asserted Privacy Act exemption (j)(2).8
In a FOIA action, summary judgment is proper when the Government's affidavits "`describe the withheld information and the justification for withholding with...
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