Baker v. FBI, No. 16-4188, 2017 WL 2962899 (7th Cir. July 12, 2017) (Posner, J.)

Baker v. FBI, No. 16-4188, 2017 WL 2962899 (7th Cir. July 12, 2017) (Posner, J.)

Re:  Request for investigative file for former Chicago Police Department Officer

Disposition:  Affirming district court's grant of government's motion for summary judgment

• Exemptions 6 & 7(C):  The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit holds that "[t]he district court was correct . . . to express concern that disclosing the names of . . . Chicago officers could expose them to harassment without conferring an offsetting public benefit and would thus be an unwarranted invasion of their personal privacy."  The court specifically finds that "[the requester's] theory that release of the names of the FBI agents who worked on the investigation would enable the public to determine whether the Bureau had adequately staffed the investigation with able and experienced agents is far-fetched." 
   
• Attorney Fees & Litigation Considerations, Considerations on Appeal:  The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit relates that "[the requester] asks [the court] to remand the case to the district court for consideration of whether to award him attorneys' fees on the ground that his suit had prompted the FBI to release extensive records that it had refused to produce until he sued."  The court holds that "[a]s he never asked the district court to award attorneys' fees, there is no ruling on them for [the court] to review – though as the district court's judgment did not forbid [the requester] to seek an award of attorneys' fees, he still can do so."