Franklin v. DEA, No. 14-03701, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40533 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 25, 2016) (Marshall, J.)

Franklin v. DEA, No. 14-03701, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40533 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 25, 2016) (Marshall, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning plaintiff and third party

Disposition: Granting defendant's motion for summary judgment

• Procedural Requirements, Searching for Responsive Records:  "The Court . . . finds that Defendants' search was reasonably calculated to uncover all relevant documents responsive to Plaintiff's request, and that Defendants satisfied their responsibilities under FOIA."  Additionally, the court finds that "[p]laintiff's argument [that records are missing] is not sufficient to rebut the presumption of good faith afforded Defendant[s'] declaration."
   
• Exemption 7:  "Although Plaintiff does not allege that Defendants violated FOIA by redacting the documents they produced to him, the Court ordered Defendants to submit unredacted versions of those documents for in camera review."  "After reviewing the documents and the corresponding Vaughn Index provided by the DEA to Plaintiff, the Court finds that the documents were redacted consistent with FOIA Exemption 7, and that the Vaughn Index gave Plaintiff a meaningful opportunity to challenge Defendants' claims of exemption."