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Stevens v. Broad. Bd. of Governors, No. 18-5391, 2021 WL 1192675 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 30, 2021) (Rowland, J.)

Date

Stevens v. Broad. Bd. of Governors, No. 18-5391, 2021 WL 1192675 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 30, 2021) (Rowland, J.)

Re:  Requests for records concerning "policies, protocols, and practices for assessing the age of those in the custody of HHS or ICE'"

Disposition:  Granting in part and denying in part defendants' motion for summary judgment

  • Litigation Considerations, Vaughn Index/Declaration:  "The Court need not disregard the declarations."  The court explains that "declarations in FOIA cases may rely on information relayed to the declarant by other members of the agency."
     
  • Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search:  First, the court holds that "[t]he scope of [the U.S. Agency for Global Media ("USAGM")'s] search was not unreasonable."  "The agency's declaration, however, affirms that that search was reasonably calculated to find responsive records and that the agency does not believe there are additional responsive records that have not been produced."  However, "[t]he Court cannot determine whether USAGM conducted a reasonable search for documents responsive to [plaintiff's] FOIA request without knowing what it looked for."

    Second, regarding HHS, the court finds that "[t]he declaration states that HHS determined there had been no contract with [a professor] at the relevant time."  "It does not, however, describe how the agency reached that conclusion."  "The same reasoning applies to at least two other elements of HHS's declaration."

    Third, regarding USCIS, the court finds that, responding to plaintiff's argument that "'"most likely"[, the phrase used by defendant in its declarations] is not the relevant metric,'" "[t]he agency must search all locations reasonably likely to produce responsive results, not just the one most likely."  However, the court finds that "[i]n the instant case, USCIS's original declaration makes clear that 'all files reasonably likely to contain responsive material were searched, and USCIS has no reason to believe that additional responsive records exist that are within its custody and control.'"  "[T]his is sufficient to clarify the ambiguity."  The court also notes that USCIS did not use several abbreviations when conducting its search and it finds that "[t]he search thus does not appear 'reasonably calculated' to return all responsive records."  "There may be a good structural reason why only 'Northwestern University' was used as a search term, but the declaration and government briefing do not provide it, and the Court will not speculate."

    Regarding the United States Geological Survey ("USGS"), contrary to defendant's objections that USGS did not list the search terms that it used to conduct the search, the court finds that "the declaration makes clear that the agency searched for records related to the contract [plaintiff's] identified in the contract's digital file, and that information on related contracts was gathered by searching for their identifying numbers in the agency's electronic filing system."

    Regarding the United States Administration for International Development ("USAID"), the court finds that "the declaration describes the locations searched . . . in reasonable detail, and it is entitled to good faith."  However, the court finds that "[f]or the same reasons as discussed with USCIS, this search is insufficient as it omits other common terms for the school like NWU."

    Regarding ICE, responding to plaintiff's objection similar to those raised regarding USCIS's search, the court finds similarly.  Additionally, the court finds that ICE was not required to search for certain records that are "beyond the scope of [plaintiff's] request."
Court Decision Topic(s)
District Court opinions
Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search
Litigation Considerations, Vaughn Index/Declarations
Updated April 28, 2021