Labella v. FBI, No. 11-23, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37830 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 19, 2012) (Garaufis, J.). Holding: Granting defendants' motion for summary judgment on the basis that the FBI conducted an adequate search, and OJP adequately responded to plaintiff's request. Noting that because plaintiff did not contest the magistrate's report and recommendation to grant OJP's motion for summary judgment and conceded that OJP "could not reproduce the records in another 'electronic format,'" it "reviews [the magistrate's findings] for clear error" and finds none. As to plaintiff's argument that " OJP could have 'narrowed down the records on the released disc and sent [him] a sub-set in printed form," the court "finds no clear error in [the magistrate judge's] determination that '[n]either [plaintiff's] FOIA requests to defendant OJP, nor [his] complaint, include any demand for information from the Survey in printed form,' and [notes] that [plaintiff] did not seek production of data on the Survey in printed form until the instant cross-motions were filed." To the extent that plaintiff requested that OJP "aggregate data," the court concludes that "[a]s [the magistrate judge] correctly noted . . . FOIA did not obligate the OJP to provide [plaintiff] with 'aggregate data,'" which was not in existence.
Melanie Ann Pustay |
Director |
Office of Information Policy |
(202) 514 - FOIA (3642) |