Opinion ID: 184889
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Cummock's Lawsuit

Text: 17 Several months after the Commission was disbanded, Cummock filed suit in District Court, naming Vice President Gore, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Commission as defendants. Cummock alleged, inter alia, that the Commission failed to operate in accordance with FACA and the APA, thereby violating her right as a member to participate in the Commission's work. She claimed that, by a series of procedural irregularities, she was effectively excluded from Commission proceedings. In her view, the Clinton Administration had formed the Commission simply to obtain rubber-stamp endorsement of a predetermined policy agenda, rather than to facilitate genuine deliberations. See Brief of Appellant at 14-15. Cummock's allegations fall into four categories, which we summarize briefly as follows. 18 First, Cummock argues that the Commission violated FACA's charter provision, 5 U.S.C. app. 2 § 9(c), by tak[ing] ... action prior to the filing of its charter on August 21, 1996. The Commission's alleged action consisted of a trip led by Vice President Gore to observe aviation operations at Dulles Airport, a presentation regarding Commission activities made by Commissioner Loh at a meeting of the Federal Aviation Administration Security Baseline Work Group, the preparation of draft recommendations, and various other informational briefings, site visits, and studies engaged in by Commission members before the Commission's official inception. Brief of Appellant at 5-6. 19 Second, Cummock claims that the Commission violated FACA's notice provision, 5 U.S.C. app. 2 § 10(a)(2), by failing to publish timely notice of its meetings in the Federal Register. According to Cummock, notice was never provided fifteen days in advance of meetings, as required by 41 C.F.R. § 101-6.1015(b)(1), and on one occasion, notice did not appear until after the meeting had occurred. 20 Third, Cummock contends that the Commission violated the provision of FACA requiring the Commission to make available the records, reports, and other documents made available to it in the course of its deliberations, 5 U.S.C. app. 2 § 10(b). Cummock points to several instances in which she allegedly requested particular information to no avail. For instance, she asked for a copy of an inch-thick briefing paper that she saw Commissioners Gore and Deutch reviewing, but subsequently received only four pages of that document from the Commission's Staff Director. She also requested that she be provided with documents submitted to or received from the Air Transport Association (ATA), but allegedly did not receive all such documents. In addition, when she heard mention of a classified annex, she sought access to those materials, but never received them, despite her security clearance. Lastly, she requested information on the availability of protective breathing equipment for passengers, but received no documents and was assured by Commission staff that no such information was available, only later to learn that at least one company had submitted a letter concerning its equipment two weeks prior to her request. 21 Finally, Cummock alleges that the Commission violated the APA, by failing to publish her complete dissent and including a misleading editor's note with the final report. According to Cummock, the Commission did not take up her concerns until immediately before the final report was scheduled to be delivered to the President, thereby delaying her preparation of a dissent. Thus, although Vice President Gore allegedly told her at a public meeting on the morning of February 12, 1997 that the Commission would make available a place in the report for the full expression of any dissenting views that [she] would like to contribute, Complaint p 40, reprinted in App. 21, the report was delivered to the President later that same day without Cummock's dissent. Subsequently, the Commission published only the narrative portion of her dissent, without the supporting materials that she had attached thereto. In addition, the Commission included a misleading editor's note, which inaccurately suggested that Cummock's dissent had presented issues that the full Commission did not have an opportunity to consider, and had been submitted late. 22 Following the Commission's official termination, Cummock's attorney wrote to the Vice President and the Commission's Staff Director, requesting information relating to the publication of the final report, the basis for the editor's note, and various aspects of Commission operations. Upon receiving no response, counsel reiterated this request in another letter. Although receipt of these letters was acknowledged by the Department of Transportation's Office of General Counsel, no response was ever received. 23 Subsequently, on May 8, 1997, Cummock filed this lawsuit, alleging multiple violations of FACA and the APA. As relief, Cummock sought an injunction prohibiting the final report from being published, distributed, or used without her complete dissent, requiring the final report to be amended to correct misstatements in the editor's note, requiring all Commission documents and records to be made available to Cummock, requiring that Cummock be given an opportunity to amend her dissent, and prohibiting distribution of the final report as a FACA advisory committee report. See Complaint at 27, reprinted in App. 32. Cummock also sought a declaration that the Commission has operated in violation of FACA and GSA implementing regulations and that the actions taken by the Commission to date are ultra vires. Id. at 28, reprinted in App. 33. 24 In July 1997, the Government filed a motion to dismiss Cummock's complaint for lack of standing or failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. According to the Government, Cummock was subsequently permitted to review at least some non-classified Commission documents, and was given copies of most of the documents she requested. Those documents not produced were determined, upon initial review, to include information that might be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act [FOIA]. Brief for the Appellees at 20-21. 25 On June 15, 1998, the District Court dismissed all of Cummock's claims. See Cummock v. Gore, Civ. No. 97-981 (D.D.C. June 15, 1998) (Memorandum), reprinted in App. 228. In sum, the trial court held that Cummock lacked a judicially enforceable right to participate in Commission activities, that her request for documents was untimely, and that she lacked standing to challenge the Commission's notice of its meetings as inadequate. This appeal followed.