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Johnson v. FBI, No. 14-1720, 2016 WL 5162715 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 20, 2016) (Pratter, J.)

Date

Johnson v. FBI, No. 14-1720, 2016 WL 5162715 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 20, 2016) (Pratter, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning investigation of client of firm where plaintiff works as investigator

Disposition: Granting defendant's motion to reconsider denial of defendant's motion for summary judgment and grant of plaintiff's motion for summary judgment; vacating previous order; granting defendant's renewed motion for summary judgment

  • Exemption 7(A): "[T]he Court is now satisfied that it has 'a clear explanation of why each document . . . is putatively withheld from disclosure.'" "The index, along with the FBI's representation in the Second . . . Declaration that anything contained within its investigative file that would have entered the public domain during the prosecution of [plaintiff's client] has been provided to [plaintiff] in the Discovery File, is sufficient for the FBI to meet its burden under FOIA."
     
  • Litigation Considerations, Vaughn Index/Declaration: "[T]he Court now finds that the FBI has met its burden to set forth sufficient detail connecting specific documents and document categories with the claimed exceptions." Specifically, the FBI "has provided sufficient detail as to which documents were withheld" under Exemptions 3, 5, 6, 7(C), 7(D) and 7(E). Additionally, the court finds that "there is an absence of any demonstration on the part of Ms. Johnson to show less than good faith compliance with regard to the FBI’s disclosure of documents."
Court Decision Topic(s)
District Court opinions
Exemption 7(A)
Litigation Considerations, Vaughn Index/Declarations
Updated January 14, 2022