ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM v. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
1:15-cv-00525
D.D.C.Sep 27, 2017Background
- Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a FOIA request (July 22, 2014) to the IRS seeking documents concerning procedures and regulatory changes for church tax inquiries, including materials on Treasury Regulation §301.7611-1 (the §7611 regulation).
- IRS acknowledged receipt and, after searching, identified 16,439 pages responsive to the request, releasing some material and withholding 10,672 pages in full; ADF sued after waiting ~8 months without substantive production.
- The IRS searched the §7611 regulation legal file, the NPRM file, the relevant Internal Revenue Manual revision archive, and files of custodians deemed likely to have responsive material; three detailed agency declarations described the custodians, search terms, and systems searched.
- ADF did not challenge the asserted FOIA exemptions but contested the adequacy of the IRS search, arguing it was too narrowly limited to Office of Chief Counsel custodians and did not include higher-level IRS/Treasury policymakers or describe search methods sufficiently.
- The IRS supplemented its submissions with a Paxson declaration explaining that TE/GE Associate Chief Counsel maintains a legal file per the Chief Counsel Directives Manual (CCDM), that the legal file should contain all documents related to a regulation project, and detailing the custodians and search terms used.
- The district court found the IRS’s declarations sufficiently detailed and persuasive that the search was reasonably calculated to locate responsive records, granted the IRS summary judgment, and denied ADF’s cross-motion.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether IRS search was adequate for records about changes to §7611 regulation | ADF: Search was unreasonably narrow—limited to Chief Counsel custodians and omitted higher-level IRS/Treasury policymakers; declarations lacked search detail | IRS: Searched the regulation legal file and custodians most likely to have responsive records; CCDM requires legal file to contain all project-related documents; provided custodial lists and search terms | Court: Search was adequate and reasonably calculated to find responsive documents; IRS summary judgment granted |
Key Cases Cited
- SafeCard Servs., Inc. v. S.E.C., 926 F.2d 1197 (D.C. Cir. 1991) (agency affidavits must be relatively detailed and nonconclusory)
- Oglesby v. U.S. Dep't of the Army, 920 F.2d 57 (D.C. Cir. 1990) (no requirement to search every record system; agency may limit search if it shows others are unlikely to produce responsive records)
- Iturralde v. Comptroller of Currency, 315 F.3d 311 (D.C. Cir. 2003) (affidavit should set forth search terms and type of search performed)
- Weisberg v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 705 F.2d 1344 (D.C. Cir. 1983) (adequacy of search judged by reasonableness under the circumstances)
- Brayton v. Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, 641 F.3d 521 (D.C. Cir. 2011) (most FOIA cases resolved on summary judgment)