Argus Leader Media v. USDA, No. 17-1346, 2018 WL 2106623 (8th Cir. May 8, 2018) (Kelly, J.)

Argus Leader Media v. USDA, No. 17-1346, 2018 WL 2106623 (8th Cir. May 8, 2018) (Kelly, J.)

Re:  Request for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ("SNAP") redemption data

Disposition:  Affirming district court's grant of requester's motion for summary judgment

• Exemption 4:  The Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit "agree[s] with the district court and conclude[s] that the USDA failed to establish that release of the contested data falls within Exemption 4’s ambit."  The court relates that an "[i]ntervenor . . . argues the district court erred in finding that Exemption 4 to the [FOIA] is inapplicable to data held by the U.S. Department of Agriculture[.]"  The court finds that "record evidence showed that the contested data – which are nothing more than annual aggregations of SNAP redemptions – lacked the specificity needed to gain material insight into an individual store's financial health, profit margins, inventory, marketing strategies, sales trends, or market share."  "[The intervenor's] assumption that stores would be stigmatized was speculative and not supported by any other evidence in the record."  "There was also no meaningful evidence that retailers would end their SNAP participation if the contested data were released."  "The trial evidence showed that the grocery industry is highly competitive, but is already rich with publically-available data that market participants (and prospective market entrants) use to model their competitors' sales."  "The evidence shows that releasing the contested data is likely to make these statistical models marginally more accurate."  "But the evidence does not support a finding that this marginal improvement in accuracy is likely to cause substantial competitive harm."