Iowa Citizens for Comm. Improv. V. U.S. Agric.
| Citation | 256 F.Supp.2d 946 |
| Decision Date | 13 August 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV. 4-02-CV-10114.,CIV. 4-02-CV-10114. |
| Parties | IOWA CITIZENS FOR COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Iowa |
James E Brick, Brick Gentry Bowers Swartz Stoltze Schuling & Levis PC, Des Moines, for IA Citizens for Community Improvement, plaintiff.
William C Purdy, United States Attorney, Des Moines, Jonathan B New, U S Department of Justice, Civil Division, Washington, DC, for United States Department of Agriculture, defendant.
THE COURT has before it cross motions for summary judgment concerning plaintiff Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement's Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief. The matter is fully submitted and no hearing is necessary at this time.
Plaintiff Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement ("ICCI") is a non-profit, Iowa-based membership organization. In July 2001, ICCI submitted a request to the Iowa State Farm Service Agency ("FSA"), a sub-agency of the United States Department of Agriculture ("USDA"), seeking disclosure of documents, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552 ("FOIA"), concerning Tom Dorr's and/or Pine Grove Farms' receipt of federal farm subsidies. Tom Dorr has been nominated by President Bush to serve as Undersecretary of Agriculture for Rural Development.1 Defendant USDA is the federal agency which administers farm subsidy programs and maintains the records at issue in this litigation.
Most notably, ICCI has sought disclosure of an audiotape on which it alleges Tom Dorr has admitted that he received federal farm subsidies for which he knew he, or his corporation, Pine Grove Farms, were not eligible. ICCI claimed that the disclosure of such an audiotape was warranted under the FOIA. ICCI's FOIA request to the FSA/USDA for disclosure of the audiotape was denied by the agency citing FOIA exemption 6—i.e., that disclosure would amount to a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. That finding was sustained by the agency in ICCI's administrative appeal. ICCI now seeks a judicial determination of the USDA's obligation to disclose the requested audiotape and related documents pursuant to the FOIA. Additionally, ICCI claims that the audiotape and related documents will shed light on the activities of the USDA in diligently pursuing its obligations to properly administer federal farm subsidy programs.
1. On July 17, 2001, ICCI submitted a request under the FOIA to the Iowa State Farm Service Agency ("FSA"), Plaintiffs Revised Statement of Undisputed Material Facts (hereinafter "Pl. F."), ¶ 2; and Defendant's Response to Plaintiffs Revised Statement of Undisputed Facts ), ¶ 2, seeking access to records concerning Tom Dorr, President Bush's nominee for Undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture for Rural Development. Pl. F., ¶ 1; Df. R.F., ¶ 1.
2. ICCT's FOIA request specifically sought, "An audio tape ... dating between 1993 to the present of Mr. Dorr admitting he received funds that he was not eligible for ....", "[a]ny documents ... dating from 1992 to the present related to the application and/or appeals to/from Tom Dorr or Pine Grove Farms requesting funds from state and local FSA/ASCS farm programs and "[a]ny specific documents dating from 1993 to the present pertaining to payment limitations to Mr. Dorr or his corporation." Ex. A to Declaration of John W. Welch.
3. On August 29, 2001, defendant USDA, through Derryl McLaren in its Des Moines, Iowa FSA office, responded by facsimile to ICCI's FOIA request stating, Ex. C to Welch Declaration. Defendant made no mention, in its August 29, 2001 letter, of an audiotape. Following receipt of Mr. McLaren's letter, ICCI submitted a response the same day to clarify its FOIA request as specifically seeking an audiotape. Host Declaration, ¶ 3; Ex. C to Host Declaration.
4. On September 7, 2001, defendant responded to ICCI's FOIA request(s) by stating, Ex. D to Welch Declaration. The records relating to payment amounts were mailed to ICCI on September 14, 2001. Ex. F to Welch Declaration. Those records included "a print-out listing payments made to Mr. Dorr or Pine Grove Farms during the years 1993 through 2000 and payments made back to FSA by Mr. Dorr or Pine Grove Farms during that same period." Welch Declaration, ¶ 10; Ex. F to Welch Declaration.
5. On September 14, 2001, ICCI appealed the defendant's denial of its FOIA request. Welch Declaration, ¶ 12; Ex. H to Welch Declaration.2 That appeal was denied on December 17, 2001, on the basis of FOIA exemption 6. Welch Declaration ¶ 17; Ex. M to Welch Declaration. The December 17, 2001 denial of ICCI's appeal was a final decision by the agency concerning ICCI's FOIA request. Ex. M to Welch Declaration.
6. On February 28, 2002, ICCI filed its Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief alleging that the audio tape in possession of defendant was withheld in violation of the FOIA.
7. Subsequent to the initiation of this proceeding, defendant identified additional documents responsive to ICCI's FOIA request. Welch Declaration, ¶ 18. Defendant disclosed fourteen (14) pages of additional documents3 to ICCI on June 14, 2002. Id. Defendant withheld a one page document from this supplemental disclosure. Welch Declaration, ¶ 19. The withheld document is "a letter dated March 7, 1996 from Mr. Dorr to the Cherokee County Executive Director, describing generally the arrangements between the Melvin G. Dorr Family Trust and Dorr's Pine Grove Farm Co. and mentioning other Dorr family members." Id. This letter was withheld from disclosure by the agency on the basis of FOIA exemption 6. Id.
8. The withheld audiotape records a purported telephone conversation between Tom Dorr and one of his brothers in which they discuss various business arrangements between Mr. Dorr and certain family trusts. Defendant's Statement of Undisputed Material Facts, ¶ 9 ("Df.F.").
9. A purported transcript of the recorded telephone conversation between Tom Dorr and his brother has been published by the Des Moines Register; however, the USDA asserts that the audiotape in its possession is not the same as the transcript of the conversation published in the Register.4
Summary judgment may be granted in favor of either party in a FOIA case where there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Goldberg v. U.S. Dept. of State, 818 F.2d 71, 77 (D.C.Cir.1987). Only factual disputes that might affect the outcome will preclude summary judgment. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). In a FOIA case, the government bears the burden to prove that disclosure is not required because one of the FOIA's exemptions applies. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B).
The forerunner of the Freedom of Information Act, contained in Section 3 of the Administrative Procedures Act, permitted many public records to be held in secret and United States Department of Justice v. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, 489 U.S. 749, 754, 109 S.Ct. 1468, 103 L.Ed.2d 774 (1989) (citing S.Rep. No. 813, 89th Cong, 1st Sess, 3 (1965)) (internal citation and footnotes omitted). "The Act was designed to create a broad right of access to 'official information.'" Id. at 772, 109 S.Ct. 1468 (citing EPA v. Mink, 410 U.S. 73, 80, 93 S.Ct. 827, 35 L.Ed.2d 119 (1973)). In addition to mandating that administrative agencies publish their rules of procedure in the Federal Register, the FOIA also requires that such agencies "make available for public inspection and copying their opinions, statements of policy, interpretations, and staff manuals and instructions" Id. (citing 5 U.S.C. §§ 552(a)(1)(C) & (2)). Congress further required that agencies generally disclose their records to the public upon request.5
In curtailing administrative agencies' discretion to limit public access to government records, Congress enumerated nine categories of documents to be exempted from mandatory disclosure. United States Department of Justice v. Tax Analysts, 492 U.S. 136, 150-51, 109 S.Ct. 2841, 106 L.Ed.2d 112 (1989) (citing Department of Justice v. Julian, 486 U.S. 1, 8, 108 S.Ct. 1606, 100 L.Ed.2d 1 (1988)). Congress gave the district courts jurisdiction to enjoin an agency from withholding agency records and "to order the production of any agency records improperly withheld ...." 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B). A document withheld from public disclosure which is not covered by one of the nine categories of exempt documents enumerated by Congress is improperly withheld. Tax Analysts, 492 U.S. at 150, 109 S.Ct. 2841 (citing Julian, 486 U.S. at 8, 108 S.Ct. 1606). In an action seeking to compel disclosure under the FOIA, Congress required that "the court shall determine the matter de novo, and may examine the contents of such agency records in camera to determine whether such records or any part thereof shall be withheld under any of the exceptions set forth in subsection (b) of [Section 552], and the burden is on the agency to sustain its action." 5 U.S.C....
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