DocketNumber: Civil No. 17–1103 (APM)
Citation Numbers: 284 F. Supp. 3d 1
Judges: Mehta
Filed Date: 1/11/2018
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/25/2022
I. INTRODUCTION
Plaintiff, a federal prisoner appearing pro se , brought this action under the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") and the Privacy Act to compel records from Defendant Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearm and Explosives ("ATF"). Plaintiff attaches to the Complaint his FOIA request dated October 15, 2015, and addressed: "Dear Sir or Madam, Re: Department of Justice; U.S. Attorney of Southern District of Florida."
II. LEGAL STANDARD
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 provides that a court should grant summary judgment if "there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and [the moving party] is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). A material fact is one that is capable of affecting the outcome of litigation. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. ,
III. DISCUSSION
Defendant's declarant is the Acting Chief of ATF's Disclosure Division. He indicates that Defendant was unaware of Plaintiff's FOIA request until this lawsuit. Once informed, Disclosure Division staff, using various terms, searched ATF's "electronic FOIA databases to determine if the alleged FOIA request was received by [the] office." Chisholm Decl. ¶¶ 6-7. ATF found no record of having received a FOIA request from Plaintiff "in or around October 15, 2015."
Plaintiff counters that because he has "shown by a declaration" that he "sent [his] FOIA request on October 15, 2015," through the prison mail system, the burden shifts to "the Government to prove that [he] delivered his initial FOIA request to prison authorities - if at all - on a date other than on October 15, 2015." Pl.'s Opp'n, ECF No. 12, at 2. This argument is simply unavailing.
A federal agency has no obligation to respond to a FOIA request it has not received. See Reynolds v. United States Dep't of Justice , Civ. Action No. 16-1428 (JEB),
In short, where, as here, an agency's declaration "demonstrate[s] that the prerequisites for triggering the agency's duties to search and produce responsive records have not been satisfied," and the agency's declaration stands unrebutted by competent evidence, "the agency is entitled to summary judgment." MacLeod v. United States Dep't of Homeland Sec. , No. 15-cv-1792,
IV. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is granted and judgment is entered in favor of Defendant.
A separate order accompanies this memorandum opinion.
Plaintiff requested essentially all records pertaining to the criminal prosecution of himself and a co-defendant. In the sole paragraph mentioning ATF, Plaintiff merely asked: "How did ATF profile as a robber or stash house robber"? Ex. A ¶ 7.