Conley v. ICE, No. 23-128, 2024 WL 4254330 (E.D. Tenn. Sept. 20, 2024) (Varlan, J.)
Conley v. ICE, No. 23-128, 2024 WL 4254330 (E.D. Tenn. Sept. 20, 2024) (Varlan, J.)
Re: Request for certain documents and communications between ICE and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office
Disposition: Denying plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment; granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment
- Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search: The court holds that “Defendant’s declaration ‘demonstrates that the [government] made a good faith effort to locate the requested documents and employed methods reasonably expected to produce the requested information.’” “These explanations are rebuttably presumed to suffice for FOIA purposes ‘[i]n the absence of countervailing evidence or apparent inconsistency of proof.’” “Ultimately, plaintiff fails to provide evidence sufficient to rebut this presumption.” “First, plaintiff contends that ‘ICE’s declaration fatally impales itself by admitting to not having searched locations it also determined were likely to have responsive records’ . . . .” “Such a requirement – that an agency’s initial search tasking binds the scope of all future search activities – does not appear in FOIA’s statutes, nor does it make practical sense for government agencies responding to FOIA requests.” “By initially tasking the [two offices] with searches, the ICE FOIA Office did not obligate itself to eventually produce something from those two offices; rather, this tasking was ICE’s best guess as to where to start the requested search on the basis of its internal organization.” “The Court is unpersuaded by plaintiff's recasting of ICE’s search methodology as an admission of noncompliance.”
- Litigation Considerations, Relief: “The Court cannot grant plaintiff further relief under §§ 552(a)(6)(A), (E).” “Defendant’s failure to adhere to FOIA’s timeframes authorized plaintiff to bring this civil action without further delay.” “However, the statute does not provide for further remedies.”