Brillhart v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, 869 F. Supp. 2d 12

FOIA action by Brillhart against the FBI for records obtained from the internet
DEF released 138 pages in full and 54 pages in part from a responsive set of 192 pages
Redactions based on exemptions 3, 6, 7(C), 7(E) and Privacy Act exemption (j)(2)
Disc UTP1667 housed the relevant records and the FBI identified the locations of the material
Plaintiff challenged the adequacy of the FBI’s search for fantasy-story postings
Court grants defendant summary judgment and orders judgment in defendant’s favor

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Adequacy of the FBI’s search for records	Brillhart argues search was inadequate for the fantasy-story postings	FBI description shows a reasonable, complete search and location of records	Search adequate; summary judgment for defendant
Proper application of exemptions	Plaintiff challenges withheld material under exemptions	Exemptions properly documented and non-exempt information released	Exemptions properly applied; judgment for defendant
Adequacy of segregation of non-exempt material	Question whether reasonably segregable non-exempt information was released	FBI carefully segregated and released non-exempt material	Reasonable segregation shown; no triable issue

Weisburg v. United States Department of Justice, 745 F.2d 1476 (D.C. Cir. 1984) (adequacy and standard of FOIA search and deference to agency affidavits)
Church of Scientology of California v. Internal Revenue Service, 792 F.2d 146 (D.C. Cir. 1986) (agency bears burden to justify withholding with detailed statements)
Valencia-Lucena v. United States Coast Guard, 180 F.3d 321 (D.C. Cir. 1999) (close nexus inquiry for missing records; directing agency contacts)
Goland v. Central Intelligence Agency, 607 F.2d 339 (D.C. Cir. 1978) (agency may justify withholding with detailed Vaughn-like justifications)
Morley v. Central Intelligence Agency, 508 F.3d 1108 (D.C. Cir. 2007) (standard for evaluating search adequacy and declarations)