Muchnick v. DHS, No. 15-3060, 2016 WL 730291 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 24, 2016) (Breyer, J.)

Muchnick v. DHS, No. 15-3060, 2016 WL 730291 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 24, 2016) (Breyer, J.)

Re: Request for third party immigration records

Disposition: Denying defendant's motion for summary judgment without prejudice

• Litigation Considerations, Vaughn Index/Declaration:  "The Court . . . concludes that DHS's Vaughn Index is deficient."  The court finds that "[t]he Vaughn Index here largely fails to 'describe [each withheld document's] contents to the extent possible' and also fails to provide a 'particularized explanation of why each document[] falls within the claimed exemption.'"  The court notes that "DHS may also provide the level of detail required . . . in a declaration regarding the withheld documents, including whether that information has already been released publicly and whether exemptions apply that would overcome the presumption in favor of disclosure."  "Without that context, the Court cannot assess DHS's withholdings."
   
• Litigation Considerations, "Reasonably Segregable" Requirements:  The court holds that "DHS . . . cites no controlling authority and no on-point persuasive authority indicating that information contained in an 'A-file' is 'categorically exempt' from disclosure or from a document-by-document segregability analysis."  "Between DHS's failure to segregate any information and its inadequate Vaughn Index, the Court cannot approve its decision to entirely withhold the 40 documents in dispute here."