Vazquez v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, Civil Action No. 10–0039(RJL).

• Decision Date: 24 August 2012
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 10–0039(RJL).
• Citation: 887 F.Supp.2d 114
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia
• Parties: Juan Antonio VAZQUEZ, Plaintiff, v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, et al., Defendants.

887 F.Supp.2d 114

Juan Antonio VAZQUEZ, Plaintiff,

v.U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 10–0039(RJL).

United States District Court,

District of Columbia.

Aug. 24, 2012.

Juan Antonio Vazquez, Texarkana, TX, pro se.

Leila Jade Levi, U.S. Attorney's Office, Washington, DC, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

RICHARD J. LEON, District Judge.

This action brought in part under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, is on remand from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for reconsideration of defendants' invocation of FOIA exemption 2 in light of Milner v. Dep't of the Navy, –––U.S. ––––, 131 S.Ct. 1259, 179 L.Ed.2d 268 (2011). SeeOrder, No. 11–5063, 2011 WL 3241451 (D.C.Cir. July 25, 2011) [Dkt. # 31]. The complaint arose from the Department of Justice's (“DOJ”) denial of plaintiff's request for records about him maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Crime Information Center (“NCIC”). See Vazquez v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 764 F.Supp.2d 117, 118–19 (D.D.C.2011) (Background). Defendants move to dismiss or for summary judgment [Dkt. # 40] and plaintiff cross moves for summary judgment [Dkt. # 44].¹ Upon consideration of the parties' submissions and the relevant parts of the record, the Court will grant defendants' motion for summary judgment, deny plaintiff's cross-motion for summary judgment, and enter judgment accordingly.

LEGAL STANDARD

“When assessing a motion for summary judgment under FOIA, the Court shall determine the matter de novo.” Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec., 598 F.Supp.2d 93, 95 (D.D.C.2009) (citing 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B)). Summary judgment shall be granted when the movant demonstrates “that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). In a FOIA action, the Court may award summary judgment based solely on information provided in affidavits or declarations if they “describe the documents and the justifications 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). Such affidavits or declarations “are accorded a presumption of good faith, which cannot be rebutted by purely speculative claims about the existence and discoverability of other documents.” SafeCard Servs., Inc. v. SEC, 926 F.2d 1197, 1200 (D.C.Cir.1991) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). To rebut the presumption, a plaintiff “must point to evidence sufficient to put the Agency's good faith into doubt.” Ground Saucer Watch Inc. v. CIA, 692 F.2d 770, 771 (D.C.Cir.1981). “Ultimately, an agency's justification for invoking a FOIA exemption is sufficient if it appears logical or plausible[,]” is adequately supported, and is not contradicted by the record. Larson v. Dep't of State, 565 F.3d 857, 862, 865 (D.C.Cir.2009) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

ANALYSIS

The Department of Justice reasserts its response to neither confirm nor deny the existence of records responsive to plaintiff's FOIA request, which the Court had found properly justified under exemption 2. Vazquez, 764 F.Supp.2d at 121–22. Commonly referred to as a Glomar response, an agency “ ‘may refuse to confirm or deny the existence of records where to answer the FOIA inquiry would cause harm cognizable under an FOIA exception.’ ” Id. at 120 (quoting Wolf v. CIA, 473 F.3d 370, 374 (D.C.Cir.2007)) (other citation omitted). In other words, “an agency may issue a Glomar response ... if the particular FOIA exemption at issue would itself preclude the acknowledgement of such documents.” Electronic Privacy Info. Center v. Nat'l Sec. Agency, 678 F.3d 926, 931 (D.C.Cir.2012) (citing Wolf, 473 F.3d at 374);see El Badrawi v. Dep't of Homeland Sec., 596 F.Supp.2d 389, 396 (D.Conn.2009) (finding Glomar response proper under exemptions 2 and 7(E) where “confirming or denying that [requester] is a subject to interest in [NCIC record] would cause the very harm [those exemptions] are designed to prevent”).

The Department of Justice's Glomar response is based on FOIA exemption 7(E), which protects from disclosure law enforcement records to the extent that their production “would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions ... if such disclosure could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law.” 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(E) (2009). “[E]ven commonly known procedures may be protected from disclosure if the disclosure could reduce or nullify their effectiveness.” Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Wash. v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 870 F.Supp.2d 70, 85 (D.D.C.2012) (quoting Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Dep't of Commerce, 337 F.Supp.2d 146, 181 (D.D.C.2004)).

Plaintiff “seeks access [to] a log of NCIC transactions” concerning him. Decl. of Juan Antonio Vazquez (“Pl.'s Decl.”) [Dkt. # 44–1] ¶ 6. Defendants' declarant, Kimberly Del Greco, describes the NCIC as a compilation of “nineteen separate databases, all of which contain material compiled for law-enforcement purposes.” Supp. Decl. of Kimberly J. Del Greco [Dkt. # 40–3] ¶ 5. The listed databases—Wanted Person File, Missing Person File, Suspected Terrorist File, Gang File, National Sex Offender Registry, Unidentified Persons File, Secret Service Protective File, Protection Order File, Immigration Violator File, Foreign Fugitive File, Identity Theft File, License Plate File, Stolen Vehicle File, Stolen Boat File, Gun File, Securities File, Stolen/Lost Article File, id.—reasonably reflect the asserted law enforcement purpose. ² According to Del Greco, “[a] key purpose of the NCIC database is to support law enforcement agencies ... to warn law enforcement of potential danger, and to promote the exchange of information in criminal and counterterrorism investigation.” Id.; see also Vazquez, 764 F.Supp.2d at 121 (“The Attorney General has delegated to the FBI its responsibility to ‘acquire, collect, classify, and preserve identification, criminal identification, crime, and other records'.... Detection of behaviors and activities form the basic core of pending investigative efforts.”) (quoting Del Greco Decl. ¶¶ 5, 23).

In addition, “NCIC transactions [are] performed[ ] in response to queries made by law enforcement agencies regarding an individual[.]” Supp. Del Greco Decl. ¶ 7. Del Greco states that “while the public generally knows and understands” that law enforcement utilizes the NCIC databases “to perform background checks and/or other related checks ... the details of those queries—including how they are executed, what search terms are used, what [ ] passwords and clearances are required, and who has authorization to run such queries, are not known to the public....” Id. ¶ 6. The Court finds that defendants have established the threshold requirement that the responsive records be compiled for law enforcement purposes and have shown that utilization of the NCIC database constitutes a “procedure[ ] for law enforcement investigations” covered by exemption 7(E).

As for the asserted harm, Del Greco states, inter alia, that “[p]ublic confirmation of NCIC transactions would alert individuals that they are the subject of an investigation as well as reveal[ ] the identity of the investigative agency. With this information, individuals could modify their criminal behavior, thereby preventing detection by law enforcement agencies and risking circumvention of the law.” Supp. Del Greco Decl. ¶ 7. In other words, persons knowing that they are being investigated by a law enforcement entity, which the requested information would reveal, could reasonably be expected to use the information to circumvent the law. Conversely, a person with knowledge “that there have been no NCIC checks run against him,” and, hence, that he is “not on law enforcement's radar” could reasonably be expected to continue “to engage in unlawful endeavors” with renewed vigor. Id. ¶ 8. This Court previously found “that DOJ justified its Glomar response by showing how a substantive response to plaintiff's FOIA request could cause [similar] harm addressed by exemption 2.” Vazquez, 764 F.Supp.2d at 121–22. Since exemption 7(E) is designed to prevent the same type of harm, the Court finds no reason to depart from that earlier finding.

Plaintiff's opposing declaration fails to create a materially factual dispute or to call into question defendants' reasonably detailed declaration. Plaintiff's personal reasons for wanting the requested records, see generally Pl.'s Decl., are irrelevant because a requester's identity and the purpose of his request generally are immaterial to the FOIA analysis. See Loving v. Dep't of Defense, 550 F.3d 32, 39 (D.C.Cir.2008) (quoting U.S. Dep't of Justice v. Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press, 489 U.S. 749, 771, 109 S.Ct. 1468, 103 L.Ed.2d 774 (1989)); see also Stonehill v. IRS, 558 F.3d 534, 538–39 (D.C.Cir.2009) (“[W]hen a document must be disclosed under ...