Torenda WHITMORE, Plaintiff, v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Et Al., Defendants, 132 F. Supp. 3d 69

Background:

Plaintiff Torenda Whitmore, a federal prisoner, submitted FOIA requests to EOUSA seeking documents (plea agreement, other pleas, police records, FBI audio/transcripts, gas-station evidence, and interagency emails) related to her 2009 kidnapping prosecution in the Southern District of Mississippi.
EOUSA assigned Request No. 13-2519 (2013) and later treated a 2014 inquiry as a new request (FOIA-2014-01406); due to administrative errors and a system migration (Access Pro) the earlier USAO/SDMS response was not processed timely.
USAO/SDMS searched its LIONS case-tracking system, obtained files from the Gulfport branch, and found a proposed (unsigned) plea agreement responsive to Request No. 1; other requested materials were not found because the criminal case file had been purged in 2011.
EOUSA produced twelve pages to Whitmore with redactions (five pages redacted) withholding names of special agents and the prosecutor’s direct phone number under FOIA Exemption 7(C); EOUSA advised Whitmore to contact local law enforcement agencies for records outside USAO control.
Whitmore challenged the adequacy of the search, argued EOUSA should have searched beyond LIONS and coordinated with other agencies (FBI, ATF, local sheriff), and questioned how her sentence was later reduced if records were purged.
The court evaluated the agency declarations, found the searches reasonably calculated to locate responsive records, approved the Exemption 7(C) redactions, and granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment.

Issues:

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Adequacy of search	EOUSA limited search to LIONS and Gulfport USAO; should have searched other systems/agencies and conducted a more exhaustive search	EOUSA reasonably searched its own files based on plaintiff’s request specifying Southern District of Mississippi and case numbers; not required to search other agencies' records	Search was reasonable; summary judgment for defendants
Existence of additional records after purge	Purged file (2011) cannot explain later resentencing; therefore responsive records must exist	File had been purged per retention practice; plaintiff offers only speculation about additional records	Plaintiff’s speculation insufficient to overcome agency declarations
Withholding of agent identities and prosecutor phone	Plaintiff did not specifically contest redactions but sought full disclosure	EOUSA withheld names/phone under Exemption 7(C) to protect privacy and law-enforcement effectiveness	Withholding under Exemption 7(C) upheld; plaintiff effectively conceded issue
Segregability of non-exempt information	Plaintiff contends more should be released	EOUSA reviewed documents and released all reasonably segregable information; only limited redactions made	EOUSA satisfied segregability requirement; no documents withheld in full

Key Cases Cited

Students Against Genocide v. Dep’t of State, 257 F.3d 828 (D.C. Cir.) (agency entitled to summary judgment if it shows documents produced or exempt)
Safecard Servs., Inc. v. SEC, 926 F.2d 1197 (D.C. Cir.) (agency affidavits may support FOIA summary judgment if detailed and nonconclusory)
Weisberg v. DOJ, 705 F.2d 1344 (D.C. Cir.) (adequacy of FOIA search measured by reasonableness)
Ancient Coin Collectors Guild v. Dep’t of State, 641 F.3d 504 (D.C. Cir.) (agency must demonstrate search was reasonably calculated to uncover relevant documents)
Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820 (D.C. Cir.) (requirement that agency specify which portions of documents are disclosable)
FBI v. Abramson, 456 U.S. 615 (Sup. Ct.) (Exemption 7 covers records compiled for law enforcement purposes)
Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press v. DOJ, 489 U.S. 749 (Sup. Ct.) (privacy interest belongs to individuals; public-interest inquiry limited to informing citizens about government operations)
Nat’l Archives & Records Admin. v. Favish, 541 U.S. 157 (Sup. Ct.) (requester must show significant public interest to overcome privacy)