Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendant-Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) motion for summary judgment in plaintiff’s action under Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), alleging that defendant improperly redacted certain information regarding plaintiff’s transfer from ICE custody to officials in Decatur County, Indiana, where plaintiff was subject to criminal DUI prosecution. Record showed that out of 561-page response to plaintiff’s FOIA request, defendant produced 51 pages that contained redactions, which included redactions for attorney-client, work product and/or deliberative process privileges that qualified for exemption under 5 USC section 552(b)(5) and redactions for names of government employees that qualified for exemption under 5 USC section 552(b)(6) and (7). Dist. Ct., which conducted in camera review of un-redacted pages at issue in instant case, had sufficient information to make legally sound decision about whether instant exemptions applied to redacted pages, and plaintiff did not dispute that said exemptions applied to certain documents. Moreover, Ct. of Appeals rejected plaintiff’s argument that crime-fraud exception to attorney-privilege exemption applied so as to require disclosure of certain documents dealing with decision to transfer him to Decatur County authorities, where record contained no factual foundation to support claim that defendant engaged in criminal conspiracy with Indiana authorities to allow criminal prosecution to go forward.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Freedom of Information Act