Source: http://openjurist.org/986/f2d/547
Timestamp: 2015-08-03 15:15:05
Document Index: 341374143

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 1', '§ 403', '§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 403', '§ 403', '§ 403', '§ 552', '§ 1', '§ 1']

986 F2d 547 Maynard v. Central Intelligence Agency Maynard | OpenJurist
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986 F2d 547 Maynard v. Central Intelligence Agency Maynard 986 F.2d 547
Beatrice MAYNARD, Plaintiff, Appellee,v.CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, Defendant, Appellant.Beatrice MAYNARD, Plaintiff, Appellant,v.CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, et al., Defendants, Appellees.
Nos. 91-1334, 92-1615.
Heard Sept. 14, 1992.Decided Feb. 4, 1993.
Steven J. Lyman with whom Law Office of Carl D. McCue was on brief for plaintiff, appellee.
John P. Schnitker, Appellate Staff, Civ. Div., Dept. of Justice, with whom Stuart M. Gerson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Richard S. Cohen, U.S. Atty., and Leonard Schaitman, Appellate Staff, Civ. Div., Dept. of Justice, were on briefs for defendants, appellees.
Before BREYER, Chief Judge, CAMPBELL, Senior Circuit Judge, and TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge.
Plaintiff Beatrice Maynard brought this action in the district court to compel disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), 5 U.S.C. § 552, of certain government documents and parts of documents pertaining to the disappearance of her former husband, Robert Thompson, during a flight over Cuba in December of 1961. Maynard had sought information about this from various agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency ("CIA"), the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), the Defense Intelligence Agency ("DIA"), the State Department, the Immigration and Naturalization Service ("INS"), the United States Customs Service ("Customs Service"), the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA"), the National Personnel Records Center ("NPRC"), and the Navy Department.1 While certain records and other materials were provided to her, Maynard felt that she was entitled to more, and so brought this suit.
After reviewing several documents in camera, the district court ordered disclosure of two items of information--one name and one paragraph--that the government had expressly redacted from materials it had furnished to plaintiff. The CIA appeals from the court's direction to reveal the paragraph, arguing that the paragraph was properly withheld under FOIA's Exemptions 1 and 3, 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(1), (3).2 In all other respects, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant agencies, denying plaintiff's requests for further information, for further document searches, and for attorney's fees. Plaintiff now appeals from these judgments.
Finding that Exemptions 1 and 3 authorize the CIA's withholding of the redacted paragraph, we reverse the order requiring the CIA to disclose it.3 We affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment for the defendant agencies.
1. The CIA's Appeal
On January 22, 1987, plaintiff submitted FOIA requests to the defendant agencies, seeking any information they might have concerning her former husband, Robert Thompson. She said he disappeared along with Robert Swanner on a flight over Cuba, in December of 1961. Thompson apparently was involved in the distribution of anti-Castro leaflets; plaintiff believed him to have worked for the CIA. Among documents produced by the FBI in response to plaintiff's requests was a redacted memo dated December 22, 1961. The FBI informed plaintiff that the excised information had originated with the CIA and was being withheld under FOIA Exemptions 1 and 3 at the CIA's request. Plaintiff brought this action in the district court in February 1988, seeking more complete disclosure, including disclosure of the withheld paragraph.
After the agency defendants moved for summary judgment, the district court in March of 1990 ordered the government to submit for the court's in camera inspection all withheld and redacted documents in their complete form. The government did so on May 1, 1990. Among the documents submitted were thirty-two pages the FBI had located in its search for documents responsive to plaintiff's FOIA request.4 This material included the redacted memo of December 22, 1961 that has since become the subject of the CIA's appeal.
To help explain its position, the CIA submitted to the district court the public declaration of Katherine M. Stricker, an Information Review Officer for the CIA's Directorate of Operations. With respect to Exemption 1, which exempts national security information classified pursuant to an Executive Order, Stricker explained that she had personally reviewed the classification determinations under the standards of Executive Order 12356. Based on that review, Stricker determined that the withheld information would "reveal the identity of an intelligence source or disclose an intelligence method," the unauthorized disclosure of which, "either by itself or in the context of other information, reasonably could be expected to cause damage to the national security." See Executive Order 12356, §§ 1.3(a)(4), (c), 47 Fed.Reg. 14874, 14876. Accordingly, she said, the information was properly classified at the "SECRET level" and was exempt from disclosure under FOIA Exemption 1.
With respect to Exemption 3, which protects information exempted from disclosure by statute, Stricker explained that, similar to Executive Order 12356, the National Security Act, 50 U.S.C. § 403(d)(3), requires the Director of the CIA to protect intelligence sources and methods from unauthorized disclosure. Stricker concluded that the redacted information fell within the ambit of the statute because it identified the use of particular intelligence methods used during specific time periods. According to Stricker, the release of such information would allow hostile intelligence organizations to neutralize the use of those methods, thereby causing a concomitant loss of intelligence.
On November 14, 1990, the district court ordered the government to give to plaintiff information from three of the documents subject to in camera review. This included the information at issue here--the third full paragraph on page 2 of the December 22, 1961 memo.5 The CIA moved for reconsideration of the portion of the court's order regarding the redacted paragraph and submitted an in camera declaration by Stricker, which explained in further detail the nature of the information withheld. On February 1, 1991, the district court granted the CIA's motion for reconsideration, but on reconsideration, the court affirmed its earlier ruling, finding that "the movant's assertion that disclosure will 'reveal its sources and methods' in a matter now approximately thirty years old is without substance and is, indeed, the height of bureaucratic disingenuousness." The CIA appeals from this order.
The FOIA gives members of the public access to documents held in government files. Every federal agency "upon any request for records which ... reasonably describes such records" must make the records "promptly available to any person." 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3). Nine categories of documents are exempted from this broad disclosure requirement.
Exemption 3 permits a federal agency to withhold matters that are:
(3) specifically exempted from disclosure by statute ... provided that such statute (A) requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue, or (B) establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld.
5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(3). Two questions need to be answered in determining whether Exemption 3 applies in a particular situation. CIA v. Sims, 471 U.S. 159, 167, 105 S.Ct. 1881, 1886, 85 L.Ed.2d 173 (1985). First, does the statute constitute a "statutory exemption to disclosure within the meaning of Exemption 3"? Second, is the requested information "included within" the statute's "protection"? Id.
The first question has already been answered affirmatively for present purposes. In Sims, the Supreme Court held that 50 U.S.C. § 403(d)(3), which provides that "the Director of Central Intelligence shall be responsible for protecting intelligence sources and methods from unauthorized disclosure," is an Exemption 3 statute because it specifies the types of material to be withheld under subpart (B) of the Exemption. 471 U.S. at 167-68, 105 S.Ct. at 1886-87; accord Knight v. CIA, 872 F.2d 660, 663 (5th Cir.1989), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1004, 110 S.Ct. 1296, 108 L.Ed.2d 474 (1990); Miller v. Casey, 730 F.2d 773, 777 (D.C.Cir.1984).
In answering the second question--whether the requested information is included within the statute's "protection"--this court has stated that,
once a court determines that the statute in question is an Exemption 3 statute, and that the information requested at least arguably falls within the statute, FOIA de novo review normally ends.
Aronson v. IRS, 973 F.2d 962, 965, 967 (1st Cir.1992).
The Supreme Court has said,
it is the responsibility of the Director of Central Intelligence, not that of the judiciary, to weigh the variety of complex and subtle factors in determining whether disclosure of information may lead to an unacceptable risk of compromising the Agency's intelligence-gathering process.
Sims, 471 U.S. at 180, 105 S.Ct. at 1893. In the intelligence area, the Court has commented that judges "have little or no background in the delicate business of intelligence gathering" and may be unable to comprehend the significance of material that appears to be innocuous, but in fact can reveal a significant intelligence source or method. Id. at 176, 105 S.Ct. at 1891. Therefore, in determining whether withheld material relates to intelligence sources or methods, a court must "accord substantial weight and due consideration to the CIA's affidavits." E.g., Fitzgibbon v. CIA, 911 F.2d 755, 762 (D.C.Cir.1990); see Sims 471 U.S. at 170, 105 S.Ct. at 1888 ("Congress intended to give the Director of Central Intelligence broad power to protect the secrecy and integrity of the intelligence process").
We have examined the unredacted version of the December 22, 1961 memorandum. In our opinion, it is at very least "arguable" that the requested paragraph falls within 50 U.S.C. § 403(d)(3) for the reason the CIA gave, to wit, that it could reveal intelligence methods. See Sims, 471 U.S. at 180-81, 105 S.Ct. at 1893-94; Aronson, 973 F.2d at 967. Giving due deference to the agency's determination, we hold that the paragraph is exempt from disclosure under FOIA Exemption 3 and 50 U.S.C. § 403(d)(3). The district court erred in ruling otherwise.6
B. FOIA Exemption 1
While our decision under Exemption 3 ends the matter, we note that FOIA Exemption 1 leads to the same result. Exemption 1 permits the withholding of matters that are:
5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(1). Executive Order 12356, upon which the CIA relies, specifically authorizes the withholding of information concerning "intelligence sources and methods," § 1.3(a)(4), 47 Fed.Reg. 14874, 14876, and declares that unauthorized disclosure of "intelligence sources and methods" is "presumed to cause damage to the national security," § 1.3(c), 47 Fed.Reg. at 14876.
When, as here, Exemptions 1 and 3 are claimed on the basis of potential disclosure of intelligence sources or methods, the standard of reviewing an agency's decision to withhold information is essentially the same.7 Hrones v. CIA, 685 F.2d 13, 17 (1st Cir.1982); Military Audit Project v. Casey, 656 F.2d 724, 736-37 n. 39 (D.C.Cir.1981) (Exemption 3 and 1 provide overlapping protection in cases involving intelligence sources and methods); see Sims, 471 U.S. at 190 n. 6, 105 S.Ct. at 1898 n. 6 (Marshall, J., concurring) (current Executive Order 12356 moves Exemption 1 closer to Exemption 3 than its predecessor Executive Order 12065). Courts, therefore, accord substantial deference to the CIA's determination that information must be withheld under Exemption 1, and will uphold the agency's decision so long as the withheld information "logically falls into the category of the exemption indicated," and there is no evidence of bad faith on the part of the agency. E.g., Bell v. United States, 563 F.2d 484, 487 (1st Cir.1977); King v. United States Dep. of Justice, 830 F.2d 210, 217 (D.C.Cir.1987). As already stated, the information withheld by the CIA in this case "arguably" or "logically" pertains to intelligence methods. There is no evidence of bad faith on the part of the agency.8 The redacted paragraph is, therefore, exempt from disclosure under FOIA Exemption 1 as well as under Exemption 3.9
2. Plaintiff's Appeal
Plaintiff alleges numerous errors in the district court's discovery orders, grants of summary judgment, and denial of attorney's fees. Plaintiff complains specifically of the following district court actions: 1) denying plaintiff's request for Vaughn indices;10 2) ruling that the defendant agencies had conducted adequate searches; 3) ruling that the government had properly claimed exemptions under the FOIA; 4) denying various discovery requests; and 5) denying attorney's fees to plaintiff. We address each of these claims of error and find that none has any merit.
Plaintiff contends that the district court erred in denying plaintiff's motion to compel each defendant agency to prepare a Vaughn index. A Vaughn index correlates information that an agency decides to withhold with the particular FOIA exemption or exemptions, explaining the agency's justification for nondisclosure. E.g., Curran v. Department of Justice, 813 F.2d 473, 475 n. 4 (1st Cir.1987); Wightman v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, 755 F.2d 979, 981 n. 1 (1st Cir.1985). An adequate Vaughn index serves three functions:it forces the government to analyze carefully any material withheld, it enables the trial court to fulfill its duty of ruling on the applicability of the exemption, and it enables the adversary system to operate by giving the requester as much information as possible, on the basis of which he can present his case to the trial court.
Keys v. United States Dept. of Justice, 830 F.2d 337, 349 (D.C.Cir.1987) (quoting Lykins v. United States Dept. of Justice, 725 F.2d 1455, 1463 (D.C.Cir.1984)). We find no merit in plaintiff's claim of improper denial of Vaughn indices here.11
A Vaughn index was obviously not called for from the INS, the DIA or the Customs Service. These agencies disclaimed possession of any documents material to plaintiff's request. A Vaughn index could not even have been prepared in such circumstances.
As for the CIA, the district court denied plaintiff's motion for a Vaughn index, without prejudice, because plaintiff had failed to supply the CIA with data--e.g., the city or county of Thompson's birth and a copy of his birth certificate--that the CIA said was necessary to complete its search. Although plaintiff subsequently furnished the CIA with the requested information, the record nowhere indicates that plaintiff renewed her request for a Vaughn index from the CIA.
The CIA did file, in connection with its summary judgment motion, both public and in camera declarations, asserting that particular information redacted or expressly withheld was exempt from the FOIA under Exemptions 1 and 3 because it would reveal intelligence sources or methods. One such declaration was that of Information Review Officer Stricker. While this lacked specifics, a more detailed affidavit could have revealed the very intelligence sources or methods that the CIA wished to keep secret. See, e.g., Doyle v. FBI, 722 F.2d 554, 556 (9th Cir.1983) ("In certain FOIA cases--usually when national security exemptions are claimed--the government's public description of a document and the reasons for exemption may reveal the very information that the government claims is exempt from disclosure."); Church of Scientology v. United States Dept. of Army, 611 F.2d 738, 742 (9th Cir.1979) ("the government need not specify its objections in such detail as to compromise the secrecy of the information.").
When, as here, the agency, for good reason, does not furnish publicly the kind of detail required for a satisfactory Vaughn index, a district court may review documents in camera. E.g., NLRB v. Robbins Tire & Rubber Co., 437 U.S. 214, 224, 98 S.Ct. 2311, 2318, 57 L.Ed.2d 159 (1978) ("[t]he in camera review provision is discretionary by its terms, and is designed to be invoked when the issue before the District Court could not be otherwise resolved"); Church of Scientology, 611 F.2d at 742 (if court finds agency affidavits to be "too generalized to establish eligibility for an exemption, it may, in its discretion, proceed to examine the disputed documents in camera for a first-hand determination of their exempt status"). Discretionary in camera review enables the court to "determine whether the failure of the affidavit stemmed from mere inadvertence or from a truly overbroad reading of the exemption by the agency." Irons v. Bell, 596 F.2d 468, 471 n. 6 (1st Cir.1979). The government, however, retains at all times the burden of proving the exempt status of withheld documents.12 E.g., Church of Scientology, 611 F.2d at 743.
In camera review is particularly appropriate when the documents withheld are brief and limited in number. See, e.g., Ingle v. Department of Justice, 698 F.2d 259, 264 (6th Cir.1983) ("full in camera reviews are appropriate in cases involving a very limited number of relatively brief documents"); Church of Scientology, 611 F.2d at 743 ("small number of documents requested, and their relative brevity, made these cases appropriate instances for exercise of the district court's inspection prerogative."). On the other hand, "where the documents in issue constitute hundreds or even thousands of pages, it is unreasonable to expect a trial judge to do as thorough job of illumination and characterization as would a party interested in the case." Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820, 825 (D.C.Cir.1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 977, 94 S.Ct. 1564, 39 L.Ed.2d 873 (1974).
The district court here conducted an in camera inspection of the relatively limited number of documents in which the CIA claimed exemptions. This provided an adequate factual basis for the district court's decision and obviated the need for further Vaughn indices from the CIA. See, e.g., Irons, 596 F.2d at 471 (in camera inspection of documents along with in camera testimony can fully establish applicability of FOIA exemption); King, 830 F.2d at 228 (after holding that Vaughn index was inadequate, D.C. Circuit suggests that district court on remand can review documents in camera ).
With respect to the State Department, the district court denied plaintiff's request for a Vaughn index because plaintiff did not contest the adequacy of the State Department's claimed exemption. The State Department reported that it had found four documents responsive to plaintiff's request. It released three of these in their entirety and the fourth with minor excisions to protect personal privacy interests pursuant to FOIA Exemption 6. The plaintiff did not challenge the excisions under Exemption 6, rendering unwarranted a Vaughn index at that time. The State Department subsequently submitted a declaration, explaining that it had withheld names and other identifying information, such as date and place of birth, address and occupation, of persons other than plaintiff's deceased husband, because "disclosure could subject these individuals or their families to possible embarrassment or harassment." This declaration fully met any requirement under Vaughn that the State Department provide a reasoned justification for its withholdings. Furthermore, the State Department submitted the one redacted document to the district court for in camera review.
Finally, in respect to the FBI, the district court granted plaintiff's motion for a Vaughn index. The FBI thereupon submitted two detailed declarations by David R. Lieberman, a special age