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Trentadue v. FBI, No. 12-974, 2015 WL 3606068 (D. Utah June 8, 2015) (Kimball, J.)

Date

Trentadue v. FBI, No. 12-974, 2015 WL 3606068 (D. Utah June 8, 2015) (Kimball, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning certain surveillance

Disposition: Granting defendant's motion for summary judgment

  • Exemptions 1, 3, 7(E):  "Having conducted a thorough in camera review of the documents (or portions therof) withheld by the agency, in conjunction with the agency's claimed reasons for so withholding the information, the court concludes that the claimed exemptions are valid."  The court finds that defendant has demonstrated "that it has withheld sensitive information because that information logically falls within the scope of the claimed exemption (i.e., the information is properly classified (Exemption 1), would reveal intelligence sources and methods (Exemption 3), or would reveal law enforcement techniques and strategies (Exemption 7(E))."  "The declarations and coded redactions that the FBI has submitted adequately explain the nature of the withheld material and why it falls within the scope of the claimed exemptions, without providing so much detail that the protected information is disclosed."  "In addition, there is no evidence here that the FBI has acted in bad faith."
     
  • Litigation Considerations, "Reasonably Segregable" Obligation:  "[T]he court finds that the FBI has satisfied FOIA's segregability requirement because the FBI has released all nonexempt reasonably segregable information in the documents that it identified in response to Plaintiff's FOIA requests."

 

Court Decision Topic(s)
District Court opinions
Exemption 1
Exemption 3
Exemption 7(E)
Procedural Requirements, “Reasonably Segregable” Obligation
Updated January 12, 2022