Price v. U.S. Department of Justice Attorney Office, 865 F.3d 676

Background

William Price pled guilty in 2007 to federal child-pornography offenses and, as part of his plea agreement, expressly waived his rights to request or receive any records pertaining to the investigation or prosecution of his case, including FOIA and Privacy Act records.
Price later submitted FOIA requests to the FBI (including requests for records about his ex-wife, who signed a privacy waiver); the FBI denied the requests citing the plea waiver.
Price sued pro se under FOIA; the district court granted summary judgment for the government, reasoning FOIA rights can be waived and did not analyze whether some requested records fell outside the waiver.
On appeal, the D.C. Circuit reviewed de novo whether the FBI lawfully withheld records under FOIA and whether the waiver could be enforced on public-policy grounds.
The majority concluded FOIA waivers are not per se invalid but held the government failed to identify any legitimate criminal-justice interest justifying enforcement of Price’s particular FOIA waiver; it reversed and remanded.
Judge Brown dissented, arguing the court improperly substituted a new “legitimate criminal-justice interest” requirement for ordinary waiver analysis and would have enforced the voluntary waiver.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether FOIA rights can be waived via plea agreement	Price: FOIA rights are not waivable or waivers contravene public policy	Government: Waivers are permissible; plea waivers should be enforced to allow efficient prosecutions and finality	Court: FOIA rights are generally waivable; statute does not forbid individual waiver, so waivers are not a "tenth exemption"
Whether this suit is a collateral attack on conviction (i.e., requires inquiry into voluntariness of plea)	Price: This is a FOIA suit seeking records; not a challenge to plea validity	Government: Case attempts to challenge plea/sentence and waiver validity	Court: Treat as FOIA suit; decide de novo whether records lawfully withheld—no need to relitigate plea voluntariness here
Whether public-policy bars enforcement of Price’s FOIA waiver	Price: Enforcing waiver impedes uncovering Brady/exculpatory material and ineffective-assistance claims; harms public interest	Government: Waiver furthers efficient/effective prosecution and finality; prisoners file burdensome FOIA requests	Court: Government failed to identify any legitimate criminal-justice interest specific to enforcing this waiver; public-policy harms of enforcement outweigh asserted benefits, so waiver not enforced here
Scope of ruling—whether FOIA waivers are categorically unenforceable	Price/Amicus: seek rule that FOIA waivers never allowed	Government/Dissent: Waivers should be upheld if voluntary and serve prosecutorial interests	Court: Declines categorical rule; holds only that government did not justify enforcing Price’s waiver in this case; leaves open that some FOIA waivers might be enforceable with adequate justification

Key Cases Cited

Mezzanatto v. United States, 513 U.S. 196 (1995) (statutory and constitutional rights generally waivable absent contrary congressional intent)
Department of the Air Force v. Rose, 425 U.S. 352 (1976) (FOIA exemptions are exclusive; agencies cannot create extra-statutory exemptions)
Ruiz v. United States, 536 U.S. 622 (2002) (prosecutors may withhold some impeachment material when negotiating pleas; certain disclosures are not required pre-plea)
Town of Newton v. Rumery, 480 U.S. 386 (1987) (release-dismissal agreements evaluated against legitimate prosecutorial and public interests)
Tollett v. Henderson, 411 U.S. 258 (1973) (a voluntary guilty plea limits collateral attacks to challenges to the plea’s voluntariness)
Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963) (prosecutor’s suppression of exculpatory evidence violates due process)
Schrecker v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 349 F.3d 657 (D.C. Cir. 2003) (standard of review for agency summary-judgment in FOIA cases)