Opinion ID: 430600
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Psychological Report

Text: 28 The psychological report raises more serious problems. The entire document was withheld from appellant, who thus has had little opportunity to discover even the kinds of material contained in the document. Moreover, the public Marble affidavit states only that [a] psychological test screening report dated December 29, 1977, prepared by Bureau of Prison's [sic] Staff, was denied as it contains diagnostic material and conclusions of a psychological or psychiatric nature which, if known to Mr. Lykins, would be potentially disruptive to his response to institutional programs. The affidavit does not discuss the question of what parts of the report might be segregable and therefore subject to disclosure, nor does it relate particular parts of the report to particular FOIA exemptions, nor does it reveal any significant information about the length of the report or the circumstances surrounding its production. 9 Therefore, the public affidavit is clearly insufficient as a Vaughn index. 10 29 The legitimacy of accepting in camera affidavits (as opposed to in camera review of withheld documents) has troubled this court in the past. Although in camera review of withheld documents is permissible (and even encouraged), we have held that a trial court should not use in camera affidavits unless necessary and, if such affidavits are used, it should be certain to make the public record as complete as possible. See Arieff v. Dep't of Navy, 712 F.2d 1462, 1470-1471 (D.C.Cir.1983); Campbell v. Dep't of HHS, 682 F.2d 256, 265 (D.C.Cir.1982); Yeager v. DEA, supra, 678 F.2d at 324-325; Allen v. CIA, supra, 636 F.2d at 1298 n. 63; Ray v. Turner, 587 F.2d 1187, 1211 n. 43 (D.C.Cir.1978) (Wright, J., concurring in the remand); Phillippi v. CIA, supra, 546 F.2d at 1013. We have permitted such in camera affidavits in national security cases, see Hayden v. NSA, supra, 608 F.2d at 1384, and have stated that the use of such affidavits is at the discretion of the trial court, Campbell, supra, 682 F.2d at 260. As appellees contend, we have never limited the use of in camera affidavits to national security cases, but we have expressed reservations about such use in cases which do not involve national security. See Campbell, supra, 682 F.2d at 265; Yeager, supra, 678 F.2d at 324-325; Allen, supra, 636 F.2d at 1298 n. 63 (procedures should be employed only where absolutely necessary); Ray, supra, 587 F.2d at 1211 n. 43 (procedure must be reserved for unusual and especially sensitive circumstances). When a trial court does make use of in camera affidavits, it must see to it that such use is justified to the greatest extent possible on the public record, see Yeager, supra, 678 F.2d at 325; Phillippi, supra, 546 F.2d at 1013, 11 and must then make available to the adverse party as much as possible of the in camera submission, see Hayden, supra, 608 F.2d at 1388. 30 The above standards concerning the use of in camera affidavits arise from the judicial system's interest in an effective adversary system. In Vaughn we emphasized the crucial importance of providing as much information as possible to FOIA plaintiffs, so that the adversary system can function effectively in assisting the trial court to make a determination and producing a record that is susceptible to appellate review. See Vaughn, supra, 484 F.2d at 823-826; accord Yeager, supra, 678 F.2d at 324; Phillippi, supra, 546 F.2d at 1013. Even in cases in which we have permitted in camera affidavits, we have noted that they are only permissible if the interests of the adversary process are outweighed by other crucial interests. Hayden, supra, 608 F.2d at 1385. 31 In this case the District Court's failure to hold the government to the accepted standards for submission of in camera affidavits made it impossible for the adversary system to function effectively in the District Court. The record does not show any effort by the court or the government to supply appellant with a Vaughn index; appellant was given no information concerning which exemptions were claimed for the report, the circumstances surrounding the report's creation, the length of the report, the possibility of segregating exempt portions from nonexempt portions, or the identity of the author of the report. Cf. Pollard v. FBI, 705 F.2d 1151, 1155 (9th Cir.1983) (in camera affidavit accepted in case in which public affidavit had provided detailed description of the withheld document). In short, appellant had no opportunity to challenge the government's claim of exemption. Furthermore, there was no finding (and no basis in the record for a finding) that the government had a crucial interest in secrecy in this case that outweighed the importance of an effectively functioning adversary system and that would therefore justify circumvention of that system in this case. We therefore hold that the proper predicates for acceptance of in camera affidavits were not met in this case, and the District Court should not have relied upon the in camera Marble affidavit in reaching its decision. 12