Schoenman v. Fed. Bureau of Investigation

• Decision Date: 30 April 2012
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 04–02202 (CKK).
• Citation: 857 F.Supp.2d 76
• Parties: Ralph SCHOENMAN, Plaintiff, v. FEDERAL BUREAU of INVESTIGATION, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

857 F.Supp.2d 76

Ralph SCHOENMAN, Plaintiff,

v.FEDERAL BUREAU of INVESTIGATION, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 04–02202 (CKK).

United States District Court,

District of Columbia.

April 30, 2012.

James H. Lesar Washington, DC for Plaintiff.

Caroline A. Smith, Sean Ryan O'Neill, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

COLLEEN KOLLAR–KOTELLY, District Judge.

Over seven years ago, Plaintiff Ralph Schoenman (“Schoenman”), a self-described political activist and author, brought this action against a handful of federal agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency (the “CIA”) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (the “FBI”) (collectively, “Defendants”), seeking the disclosure of a broad array of records under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) and the Privacy Act of 1974 (“PA”). On January 23, 2012, following years of motion practice and twelve detailed opinions from this Court, a final judgment was entered reflecting an adjudication of all the claims, rights, and liabilities of the parties.

Currently before the Court is Schoenman's [178] Motion for Reconsideration, filed on February 21, 2012, seeking reconsideration of certain aspects of this Court's prior decisions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e). ¹ Upon careful consideration of the parties' submissions, the relevant authorities, and the record as a whole, Schoenman's Motion for Reconsideration shall be DENIED.²

I. BACKGROUND

Because this action has been pending for over seven years and has seen a considerable amount of motion practice in that time, setting forth the full breadth of the background of the case here is neither necessary nor desirable. Instead, the Court shall briefly outline the facts and procedural history most germane to the instant motion and assume familiarity with its many prior opinions, which are incorporated herein.³

In July 2001, Schoenman's legal counsel submitted FOIA/PA requests to several federal agencies, including the CIA and the FBI, seeking the disclosure of a broad array of records relating to him, Lord Bertrand Russell, and six named organizations. The CIA and the FBI acknowledged receipt of Schoenman's requests and conducted searches of their records, ultimately producing some records and withholding others in full or in part. Dissatisfied with the response he received, Schoenman commenced this civil action on December 20, 2004, naming as defendants the CIA, the FBI, and other federal agencies.

In the years that followed, the issues in the case were successively winnowed down or refined by the parties' motion practice and the decisions of this Court. Most notably for present purposes, in an opinion dated March 31, 2009, the Court granted the FBI summary judgment on the reasonableness of its search for responsive records because Schoenman “conceded the issue” by failing to respond to the FBI's arguments in any of his submissions. See Schoenman v. FBI, 604 F.Supp.2d 174, 204 (D.D.C.2009). Subsequently, in an opinion dated February 9, 2011, the Court faulted Schoenman for attempting to “resurrect and relitigate” the reasonableness of the FBI's search in part because “Schoenman, who is represented by counsel in this action, ha[d] never filed a formal motion for relief from this Court's prior order granting the FBI summary judgment on the issue of the reasonableness of its search.” Schoenman v. FBI, 763 F.Supp.2d 173, 202 (D.D.C.2011). In its February 9, 2011 decision, the Court also granted summary judgment to the FBI on the question of whether the agency had properly withheld confidential source symbol numbers and confidential source file numbers under FOIA Exemptions 2 and 7(D). See id. at 196, 200.

Thereafter, the parties briefed the sole remaining issue in the action—namely, the disposition of certain CIA-originating records referred to the CIA by the FBI for processing and a direct response to Schoenman. On January 23, 2012, the Court granted summary judgment in the CIA's favor and, because no other viable claims for disclosure remained extant, entered a final judgment reflecting an adjudication of all the claims, rights, and liabilities of the parties. See Order & Final Judgment, ECF No. [175]. As part of its January 23, 2012 decision, the Court denied Schoenman's two motions to late file a reply memorandum of points and authorities,a declaration, and a statement of material facts in connection with the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment. See Schoenman v. FBI, 841 F.Supp.2d 69, 72–78 (D.D.C.2012). Schoenman filed the instant motion on February 21, 2012. ⁴

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e) permits a party to file “[a] motion to alter or amend a judgment” within “28 days after the entry of the judgment.” ⁵Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(e). Motions under Rule 59(e) are “disfavored” and the moving party bears the burden of establishing “extraordinary circumstances” warranting relief from a final judgment. Niedermeier v. Office of Baucus, 153 F.Supp.2d 23, 28 (D.D.C.2001). Rule 59(e) motions are “discretionary and need not be granted unless the district court finds that there is an intervening change of controlling law, the availability of new evidence, or the need to correct a clear error or prevent manifest injustice.” Firestone v. Firestone, 76 F.3d 1205, 1208 (D.C.Cir.1996) ( per curiam ) (internal quotation marks omitted). Rule 59(e) does not provide a vehicle “to relitigate old matters, or to raise arguments or present evidence that could have been raised prior to the entry of judgment.” Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker, 554 U.S. 471, 485 n. 5, 128 S.Ct. 2605, 171 L.Ed.2d 570 (2008) (internal quotation marks omitted).

III. DISCUSSION

Through his Motion for Reconsideration, Schoenman contends that the Court should reconsider: (1) its January 23, 2012 decision insofar as it denied his two motions to late file various documents in connection with the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment; (2) its February 9, 2011 decision insofar as the Court determined that the FBI properly invoked FOIA Exemption 2 as a basis for withholding certain information; and (3) its February 9, 2011 decision insofar as it rejected Schoenman's attempts to relitigate the reasonableness of the FBI's search for responsive records. The Court addresses each component of Schoenman's Motion for Reconsideration in turn.

A. Schoenman Has Failed to Establish that Reconsideration is Warranted With Respect to the Denial of His Two Motions to Late File

Schoenman first contends that the Court should reconsider its January 23, 2012 decision denying his two motions to late file a reply memorandum of points and authorities, a declaration, and a statement of material facts in connection with the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment. For at least three reasons, the Court concludes that Schoenman has failed to meet his burden of justifying relief under Rule 59(e).

First, to justify relief from a final judgment, “the movant must give the district court ‘reason to believe that vacating the judgment will not be an empty exercise or futile gesture.’ ” Norman v. United States, 467 F.3d 773, 775 (D.C.Cir.2006) (quoting Murray v. District of Columbia, 52 F.3d 353, 355 (D.C.Cir.1995)). Here, although Schoenman seeks reconsideration of the Court's January 23, 2012 decision insofar as it denied him leave to late file certain documents, he makes no attempt to explain how consideration of those documents would affect the Court's bottom-line conclusion on the merits—that is, that the CIA properly invoked FOIA Exemptions 1 and 3 as a basis for nondisclosure. See Schoenman, 841 F.Supp.2d at 80–85. His failure to do so is particularly egregious because the Court expressly found that, with respect to his proposed reply memorandum and supporting declaration, “Schoenman's arguments would fail on the merits: they are speculative, unsupported, and contradicted by all the evidence in the record.” Id. at 75 n. 3. Indeed, Schoenman's only rejoinder is to suggest, with respect to his proposed statement of material facts, that it is “speculative” to ask whether consideration of the statement would affect the merits in the absence of a responsive statement from the CIA. Pl.'s Reply at 8. Schoenman's argument both misses the point and misconceives his burden. Regardless of how the CIA might have responded to his proposed statement of material facts, Schoenman still has not explained how his proffered factual allegations, if undisputed or not genuinely disputed, would have any meaningful bearing on the Court's decision on the merits. He has, in short, failed to supply this Court with reason to believe that reconsidering its decision to deny his two motions to late file would not be an “empty exercise or futile gesture.” Murray, 52 F.3d at 355. Accordingly, the Court declines to exercise its discretion to grant relief under Rule 59(e).

Second, although Schoenman claims that the Court should reconsider its decision to deny his two motions to late file because he purportedly satisfied the standard for “good cause” and “excusable neglect,” he does not mention, let alone supply a basis for questioning, the alternative grounds for the Court's decision. With respect to Schoenman's first motion to late file, the Court found that “even if they were timely filed,” the underlying submissions would not affect the Court's decision on the merits because (1) many of his arguments were “raised for the first time in reply and would be disregarded on that basis” and (2) as aforementioned, the arguments were “speculative, unsupported, and contradicted by all the competent evidence in the record.” Schoenman, 841 F.Supp.2d at 75 n. 3 (citing Baloch v. Norton, 517 F.Supp.2d 345, 348 (D.D.C.2007), aff'd,550 F.3d 1191 (D.C.Cir.2008)). With respect to Schoenman's second motion to late file, the Court found that Schoenman (1) “failed to comply with the meet-and-confer requirements of Local Civil Rule 7(m) before filing his...