Kulkarni v. Dep't of State, No. 14-55132, 2017 WL 2829142 (9th Cir. June 30, 2017) (per curiam)

Kulkarni v. Dep't of State, No. 14-55132, 2017 WL 2829142 (9th Cir. June 30, 2017) (per curiam)

Re:  Request for records concerning requester's son's passport application

Disposition:  Denying requester's motion to review and enjoin; denying requester's motion for sanctions

• Exemption 6:  The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit holds that "[t]he district court properly granted summary judgment because [the requester] failed to raise a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether [the government] did not establish that the withheld documents were exempt from disclosure under Exemption 6 of FOIA."  The district court previously held that "[p]laintiff [had] not demonstrated a significant public interest in disclosure [of his son's passport application]."
   
• Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search:  The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit holds that, "[t]o the extent that [the requester] challenges the sufficiency of the search for documents, we reject [the requester's] challenge as unsupported by the record."  The district court previously held that "[p]laintiff's speculative assertion that more documents must exist [did] not make [the government's] search unreasonable, particularly in light of the process described in [the government's] affidavits."
   

• Litigation Considerations, Relief:  The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit holds that "[t]he district court did not abuse its disretion in denying [the requester's] motion for sanctions because [the requester] failed to identify any conduct warranting sanctions."