Opinion ID: 406603
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Adequacy of the Affidavits

Text: 12 Since the district judge considered matters outside the pleadings in disposing of the litigation, we properly treat this case as one in which a motion for summary judgment was granted. George C. Frey Ready-Mixed Concrete, Inc. v. Pine Hill Concrete Mix Corp., 554 F.2d 551, 554 (2d Cir. 1977); Gray v. Greyhound Lines, East, 545 F.2d 169, 174 (D.C.Cir.1976); 10 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil § 2713 at 391-92 (1973 & 1982 Supp.). We test the propriety of the grant of such a motion by the well-known standards of Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. In a FOIA case, as in all others in the federal system,  '(s)ummary judgment may be granted only if the moving party proves that no substantial and material facts are in dispute and that (movant) is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.'  Founding Church of Scientology v. National Security Agency, 610 F.2d 824, 836 (D.C.Cir.1979) (quoting National Cable Television Association, Inc. v. FCC, 479 F.2d 183, 186 (D.C.Cir.1973)). 13 To meet this exacting standard in a FOIA suit, the defending agency must prove that each document that falls within the class requested either has been produced, is unidentifiable, or is wholly exempt from the (FOIA's) inspection requirements. National Cable Television, 479 F.2d at 186. The peculiarities inherent in FOIA litigation, with the responding agencies often in sole possession of requested records and with information searches conducted only by agency personnel, have led federal courts to rely on government affidavits to determine whether the statutory obligations of the FOIA have been met. Accordingly, in adjudicating the adequacy of the agency's identification and retrieval efforts, the trial court may be warranted in relying upon agency affidavits, for these 'are equally trustworthy when they aver that all documents have been produced or are unidentifiable as when they aver that identified documents are exempt.'  Founding Church of Scientology, 610 F.2d at 836 (quoting Goland v. CIA, 607 F.2d 339, 352 (D.C.Cir.1978), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 927, 100 S.Ct. 1312, 63 L.Ed.2d 759 (1980)). 14 Reliance on affidavits to demonstrate agency compliance with the mandate of the FOIA does not, however, require courts to accept glib government assertions of complete disclosure or retrieval. Rather, to ground a grant of summary judgment on the basis of agency protestations of compliance, the supporting affidavits must be 'relatively detailed' and nonconclusory and must be submitted in good faith. Goland, 607 F.2d at 352 (footnote omitted) (quoting Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820, 826 (D.C.Cir.1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 977, 94 S.Ct. 1564, 39 L.Ed.2d 873 (1974)). Finally, as appellant argues, if the sufficiency of the agency's identification or retrieval procedure is genuinely in issue, summary judgment is not in order. Founding Church of Scientology, 610 F.2d at 836 (footnote omitted). Perry submits that the adequacy of the federal retrieval process is genuinely at issue in this case. Specifically, appellant challenges the adequacy of the searches carried out by agency officials in response to his FOIA requests and the sufficiency of the descriptions of those searches. 15 Although the offhand treatment appellees accorded Perry was by any measure unfortunate, we agree with the district court that summary judgment in the government's favor was appropriate. Appellees submitted for the consideration of the trial judge three affidavits of federal officials describing the searches for records that transpired, albeit belatedly, in response to Perry's requests. In Weisberg v. Department of Justice, 627 F.2d 365, 371 (D.C.Cir.1980), and in Founding Church of Scientology, 610 F.2d at 836-37, we stated that affidavits setting forth the record procurement efforts of an agency should provide some detailing of the scope of the examination conducted. We do not believe, however, that the district judge's ruling in the case at bar violated either the spirit or the letter of the Weisberg and Founding Church of Scientology decisions. 16 Appellant's challenge to the adequacy of the government affidavits is, we believe, based on a misreading of these FOIA precedents. Neither Weisberg nor Founding Church of Scientology demands in every FOIA case that the affidavits of the responding agency set forth with meticulous documentation the details of an epic search for the requested records. Rather, in the absence of countervailing evidence or apparent inconsistency of proof, affidavits that explain in reasonable detail the scope and method of the search conducted by the agency will suffice to demonstrate compliance with the obligations imposed by the FOIA. In considering a challenge to an agency's retrieval procedures, a reviewing court must thus determine whether the materials submitted by the agency satisfactorily demonstrate the apparent adequacy of the search conducted. Where the agency's responses raise serious doubts as to the completeness of the search or are for some other reason unsatisfactory, summary judgment in the government's favor would usually be inappropriate. See Exxon Corp. v. FTC, 466 F.Supp. 1088, 1094 (D.D.C.1978), aff'd, 663 F.2d 120 (D.C.Cir.1980). 17 Scrutiny of the agency affidavits submitted in the instant case convinces us that appellees' search for the requested records, though belated, was reasonably complete and thorough. Two of the three government affiants identified with reasonable specificity the system of records searched and the geographic location of those files. 20 The third affiant, it is true, simply concluded that no records relating to appellant remained undisclosed; his position as North Dakota Director of the FmHA, however, lends credence to the conclusion that he was referring solely to the files held at his North Dakota office and that the search he supervised encompassed only those files. 21 To be sure, the descriptions of the searches could have been more detailed, and we urge agency affiants and counsel to provide as much specificity as possible to facilitate intelligent assessment of the submitted information. The arguable inadequacy of the search descriptions here is, however, no more than marginal and does not render the grant of summary judgment inappropriate. 18 We would note, moreover, that we do not view the above summary of governing principles as at all inconsistent with our rulings in either Weisberg or Founding Church of Scientology. Both of those cases involved rather special facts that tended to cast considerable doubt on the adequacy of the respective agencies' searches; the existence of this doubt in each case rendered summary disposition inappropriate. In Weisberg, the agency's own assertions supported an inference that specifically identified material, solicited by the requester, might have remained in the agency's possession. 627 F.2d at 368-70. The appellant in Weisberg also adduced specific evidence tending to show that the search conducted for the records had been inadequate. Id. at 368-69. Similarly, in Founding Church of Scientology there were well-defined requests and positive indications of overlooked materials, 610 F.2d at 837, leading the court to conclude that substantial doubts (existed) about the caliber of NSA's search endeavors. Id. at 834. Based on the conflicting evidence and nebulous records in Weisberg and Founding Church of Scientology, the court in each case ruled that a single, conclusory affidavit failed to negate any inference that requested information was irretrievable through the employment of reasonable search procedures. 19 Turning again to the case at bar, appellant's challenge of the district court's disposition of the retrieval question is based primarily on the cumulative effect of three alleged deficiencies in the government's behavior: appellant contends that the combined impact of (1) the vague descriptions of the searches conducted, (2) appellees' fitful responses to Perry's document requests, and (3) the fact that a belated release of materials rendered two of the government's affidavits in error, 22 requires a remand for reconsideration of the adequacy of the government's search efforts. Neither the individual nor the cumulative effect of these alleged shortcomings requires reversal of the district court's decision, however. 20 We have noted above that the affidavits submitted by the government in this case, though perhaps somewhat summary, set forth with sufficient detail a reasonably thorough search for the requested information. See supra pp. 127-128. With regard to the second argument, it is clear that appellees' delayed reaction to appellant's document demands evidences a lack of vigor, if not candor, in responding to (Perry's) FOIA requests. Goland, 607 F.2d 367, 370 (D.C.Cir.1979) (opinion on rehearing). In the final analysis, however, appellant offers only the unsupported allegation that appellant's cumulative search efforts were insufficient as a matter of law to ground a ruling of summary judgment in the government's favor. Perry has presented no specific argument or evidence suggesting that solicited but undisclosed information remains in agency files. The issue is not whether any further documents might conceivably exist but rather whether the government's search for responsive documents was adequate. See id. at 369. Given the dearth of evidence presented by appellant suggesting the inadequacy of the retrieval process, we are unable to say that the district judge was incorrect in relying on the agency affidavits in question, even given the delays in document provision. 21 Perhaps most troublesome in gauging the adequacy of the agency's search is the fact that additional documents were found and released after affidavits were executed by federal officials stating that no further records responsive to appellant's request remained in agency control. 23 As we have had occasion to note before, the discovery of additional documents is more probative that the search was not thorough than if no other documents were found to exist. Id. at 370. After considering all of the surrounding circumstances, however, we are convinced that the district judge's disposition of the case was proper. Over 600 pages of materials were released to appellant over the course of four months in late 1980 and early 1981; only ten pages of records were released after the execution of the affidavits alleged by appellant to be false, and the circumstances surrounding this delay indicate neither artifice nor subterfuge but rather, at worse, administrative inefficiency. See Brief for Appellant at 7-8; Brief for Appellees at 14 n.8. 24 While we again recognize both the fitful nature of the government's release of records in this case and the probative impact of the discovery of additional documents, we find no error in the entry of summary judgment in appellees' favor. 22 In sum, after considerable study of the record, we are not convinced that sufficient positive indications of overlooked materials exist to warrant a remand of the case for a reconsideration of the substantive adequacy of the thoroughness of the search. Founding Church of Scientology, 610 F.2d at 837; see generally Goland, 607 F.2d at 367-72 (opinion on rehearing). Nor do we believe that the alleged deficiencies in the affidavit descriptions of that search require such a remand. 23