BREHM v. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE et al, No. 1:2007cv01739 - Document 26 (D.D.C. 2009)
Court Description: MEMORANDUM OPINION accompanying final order issued separately this day. Signed by Judge Ricardo M. Urbina on 1/5/09. (ah)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ROBERT BREHM, Plaintiff, v. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE et al., Defendants. : : : : : : : : : : Civil Action No.: 07-1739 (RMU) Document Nos.: 20, 21 MEMORANDUM OPINION On September 23, 2008, the court directed the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) to supplement the record in this action filed under the Freedom of Information Act ( FOIA ), 5 U.S.C. § 552, with evidence of its search for records responsive to the plaintiff s FOIA request for records pertaining to himself. See Order of September 23, 2008 [Dkt. No. 18] and accompanying Memorandum Opinion [Dkt. No. 19]. In what remains of this case, the CIA has renewed its motion for summary judgment [Dkt. No. 21], which also includes its opposition to the plaintiff s motion for summary judgment filed on October 8, 2008 [Dkt. No. 20]. Upon consideration of the parties supplemental filings and the entire record, the court grants the CIA s motion for summary judgment and denies the plaintiff s motion for summary judgment because it is not accompanied by [the requisite] statement of material facts as to which the moving party contends there is no genuine issue. LCvR 7(h); Baptiste v. Bureau of Prisons, 554 F. Supp. 2d 1, 2 n.1 (D.D.C. 2008). In support of its claim of an adequate search, the CIA proffers the Declaration of Delores M. Nelson ( Nelson Decl. ), who is Chief of the CIA s Public Information Programs Division, Information Management Services and Office of the Chief Information Officer. Nelson Decl. ¶ 1. As manager of the CIA s FOIA and Privacy Act programs, Nelson is responsible for, among other duties, directing searches of CIA records systems pursuant to public requests for records . . . and coordinating the review of any records retrieved in such searches. Id. ¶ 2. Her statements are based upon [her] personal knowledge and information made available to [her] in the course of performing [her] official duties, id. ¶ 3, and therefore satisf[y] the personal knowledge requirement in Rule 56(e), Barnard v. Dep t of Homeland Sec., 531 F. Supp. 2d 131, 138 (D.D.C. 2008) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). Using the plaintiff s name, variants thereof and other personal identifiers, CIA staff searched two filing systems determined likely to contain responsive records, namely, the Directorate of Support and the National Clandestine Service. Nelson Decl. ¶ 10. Based on Nelson s description of those and other CIA databases, ¶¶ 5, 10-12, the retrieval methods employed, id. ¶¶ 11-12, and her conclusion that it is unlikely that other CIA directorates would possess records responsive to Plaintiff s request, id. ¶ 10, the court is satisfied that the CIA conducted an adequate search for responsive records, see Long v. U.S. Dep t of Justice, 450 F. Supp.2d 42, 54 (D.D.C. 2006) (agency declarations are accorded a presumption of good faith ) (quoting SafeCard Servs., Inc. v. SEC, 926 F.2d 1197, 1200 (D.C. Cir.1991)). For the foregoing reasons, the court grants the CIA s renewed motion for summary judgment and denies the plaintiff s motion for summary judgment. A final order consistent with this Memorandum Opinion and the court s prior ruling resolving all other issues is separately and contemporaneously issued this 5th day of January 2009. RICARDO M. URBINA United States District Judge 2
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