Burke v. DHS, No. 17-5224, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 31109 (D.C. Cir. Nov. 1, 2018) (per curiam)

Burke v. DHS, No. 17-5224, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 31109 (D.C. Cir. Nov. 1, 2018) (per curiam)

Re:  Request for certain records concerning requester's criminal case

Disposition:  Granting government's motion for summary affirmance of district court's grant of government's motion for summary judgment and denial of requester's motion for in camera review

• Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search:  The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit holds that "[t]he district court correctly determined that the government fulfilled its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act[.]"  The court finds that "[a]lthough [the requester's] initial FOIA requests were quite broad, he significantly narrowed them during summary judgment briefing."  "[The government] has submitted declarations in the district court and in response to an order by this court stating that it does not have documents responsive to the narrowed requests."  The court finds that "[a]gency affidavits are 'accorded a presumption of good faith,' and an agency is not 'required to recreate or to reacquire a document that it no longer has' in response to a FOIA request."
   
• Litigation Considerations, In Camera Inspection:  The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit holds that "[i]n light of the declarations submitted by [the government], the district court also did not abuse its discretion in denying [the requester's] motion to conduct an in camera review of documents that were found by [the government]."  The district court previously held that "[the government had] provided multiple declarations under the penalty of perjury attesting that it does not have that page."