Passmore v. DOJ, No. 17-5083, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 17746 (D.C. Cir. Sept. 13, 2017) (per curiam)
Passmore v. DOJ, No. 17-5083, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 17746 (D.C. Cir. Sept. 13, 2017) (per curiam)
Re: Request for some of requester's e-mail communications
Disposition: Granting government's motion for summary affirmance of district court's grant of defendant's second motion for summary judgment
- Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search: The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit holds that "[t]he district court correctly concluded that [the government's] search for responsive records was adequate under the Freedom of Information Act." The court also finds that "[the requester's] unsupported and speculative allegations that the FBI possesses, but is withholding, additional emails do not raise substantial doubt as to the adequacy of the search."
- Fees and Fee Waivers, Fee Waivers: The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit holds that "[t]he district court did not err in determining [the requester] to be ineligible for a fee waiver, as disclosure of the records was not 'likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government.'" "Thus, the FBI had no obligation to provide copies of more than 100 pages – out of the 16,039 it originally identified as responsive to [the requester's] request – without his agreement to pay copying fees."
- Procedural Requirements, Searching for Responsive Records: The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit holds that "to the extent [the requester] argues that the search was inadequate because [the government] failed to search for emails within the files of two employees of Yahoo, Inc., or their successors, [the government] had no obligation to retrieve documents from third parties."
- Litigation Considerations, Discovery: The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit holds that "the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying [the requester's] motion to compel discovery."