Filed Date: May 19, 2011
Closed Date: 2014
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On May 19, 2011, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a non-profit organization concerned with technology-related civil liberty issues, filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 5 U.S.C. § 552. The plaintiff sought the release of a document that the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel had prepared to examine the authority of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under 18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(f) to obtain certain telephone records without administrative subpoenas or any other legal process. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant had wrongfully withheld this document under 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(1) and (5) and that the plaintiff had exhausted the available FOIA administrational remedies to obtain this opinion.
On November 10, 2011, the DOJ filed for summary judgment. On December 19, 2011, the EFF filed a cross motion for summary judgment.
On September 21, 2012, Judge Richard J. Leon granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment and denied that of the plaintiff. The court held that the requested document, in its entirety, was exempt from FOIA disclosure for two reasons:
1. The document was properly exempt from disclosure in the interest of national security because it contained classified information pertaining to intelligence activity. If disclosed, the information could threaten national security; and
2. The document fell under the “deliberative process privilege” because it was pre-decisional and deliberative in nature and it was generated as part of a continuous process of agency decision-making. (892 F.Supp.2d 95).
On November 15, 2012, the plaintiff appealed the district court’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the District Columbia. The plaintiff contested the ruling that the document was covered by the deliberative process privilege and argued that even if this privilege were to apply to the document, the FBI had waived the privilege by relying on the document in dealings with Congress and the Office of the Inspector General. The plaintiff also alleged that the district court had erred in failing to determine whether there was unclassified, factual information that was “reasonably separable” from the document’s other content and therefore disclosable. (739 F.3d 1).
The Court of Appeals held oral arguments before Judges Sri Srinivasan, Harry T. Edwards, and David B. Sentelle on November 26, 2013. On January 3, 2014, Judge Edwards, for the Court of Appeals, affirmed the district court’s decision. He held the following:
1. The requested document was covered by the deliberative process privilege;
2. The FBI had never waived the deliberative process privilege by adopting the document’s determination as its own; and
3. As the document was exempt from disclosure under deliberative process privilege, the court did not need to decide whether particular sections of the document were properly withheld as classified, or whether some material was reasonably segregable from the material properly withheld (739 F.3d 1).
On October 14, 2014, the US Supreme Court denied EFF’s petition for writ of certiorari. The case is now closed.
Summary Authors
Chris Opila (9/28/2017)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4211240/parties/electronic-frontier-foundation-v-department-of-justice/
Edwards, Harry Thomas (District of Columbia)
Leon, Richard J. (District of Columbia)
Delery, Stuart F. (District of Columbia)
Layton, Elizabeth (District of Columbia)
Machen, Ronald C (District of Columbia)
Edwards, Harry Thomas (District of Columbia)
Leon, Richard J. (District of Columbia)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4211240/electronic-frontier-foundation-v-department-of-justice/
Last updated March 27, 2024, 3:25 a.m.
State / Territory: District of Columbia
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: May 19, 2011
Closing Date: 2014
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a non-profit organization concerned with technology-related civil liberty issues
Plaintiff Type(s):
Non-profit NON-religious organization
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
United States Department of Justice (Washington D.C., District of Columbia), Federal
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Defendant
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Issues
General: