Case Detail

FOIA Project Annotation: A federal court in Illinois has ruled that the FBI properly withheld personally identifying information about its agents, Illinois law enforcement agents, and third parties of interest under Exemption 7(C) (invasion of privacy concerning law enforcement records) and Exemption 6 (invasion of privacy). Ben Baker requested records on the federal investigation of former Chicago police officer Ronald Watts, who was convicted of theft and sentenced to 22 months in prison. The FBI initially rejected Baker's request under Exemption 7(C), a decision that was upheld on administrative appeal. However, after Baker filed suit, the FBI decided Baker had shown sufficient public interest in the investigation to merit a search. The agency located 5,818 pages and disclosed 736 pages, redacting personally identifying information under Exemption 7(C) and Exemption 6. Baker argued that the fact that Watts was investigated and convicted showed government impropriety. The court disagreed, noting that "Baker has not produced any concrete evidence or logical conclusion that would warrant a belief by a reasonable person that the alleged government impropriety might have occurred. . .Even though Baker states that he is not accusing any agents of specific wrongdoing, his contention that a government impropriety occurred is based only on his own perception of the criminal justice system. Baker's generalized statement about government impropriety and painting all those involved in the process with a broad brush has no merit." The court added that "Baker has failed to produce sufficient evidence that would warrant a belief by a reasonable person that the alleged Government impropriety might have occurred." The court found that personally identifying information for FBI agents and local law enforcement officials was properly withheld. The court indicated that "the disclosure of these individuals would serve little to no public interest other than subjecting them to harm or harassment." The court concluded by commenting that "under Baker's broad reading of FOIA, privacy considerations essentially would be meaningless and the laws relating to exemptions would not matter. This court gives due consideration to the right of the public to know certain information and the privacy rights of citizens to be protected from disclosure of certain information."
Issues: Exemption 7(C) - Invasion of privacy concerning law enforcement records, Exemption 6 - Invasion of privacy

Date Filed	Doc #	Docket Text
2014-11-24	1	COMPLAINT filed by Ben Baker; Filing fee $ 400, receipt number 0752-10092483. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C, # 4 Exhibit D, # 5 Exhibit E, # 6 Exhibit F, # 7 Exhibit G, # 8 Exhibit H, # 9 Exhibit I, # 10 Exhibit J, # 11 Exhibit K, # 12 Exhibit L, # 13 Exhibit M)(Topic, Matthew) (Entered: 11/24/2014)
2014-11-24	2	CIVIL Cover Sheet (Topic, Matthew) (Entered: 11/24/2014)
2014-11-24		CASE ASSIGNED to the Honorable Samuel Der-Yeghiayan. Designated as Magistrate Judge the Honorable Mary M. Rowland. (sg, ) (Entered: 11/24/2014)
2014-11-26		SUMMONS Issued as to Defendant Federal Bureau of Investigation (pg, ) (Entered: 11/26/2014)
2014-12-08	3	MINUTE entry before the Honorable Samuel Der-Yeghiayan: Initial status hearing set for 01/28/15 at 9:00 a.m. At least four working days before the initial status hearing, the parties shall conduct a FRCP 26(f) conference and file a joint written Initial Status Report, not to exceed five pages in length, and file the Court's Joint Jurisdictional Status Report and deliver courtesy copies to this Court's Courtroom Deputy in Room 1908. The Court's standing orders on the Initial Status Report and Joint Jurisdictional Status Report maybe obtained from Judge Der-Yeghiayan's web page or from this Court's Courtroom Deputy. Counsel for the Plaintiff is warned that failure to serve summons and complaint on Defendant and the appropriate Governmental Agencies will result in a dismissal of the action pursuant to FRCP 4. Counsel for Plaintiff is further directed to file with the Clerk of Court, the appropriate returns of service and/or waivers of service. Mailed notice (mw, ) (Entered: 12/08/2014)
2014-12-08	4	ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiff Ben Baker by Matthew Vincent Topic (Topic, Matthew) (Entered: 12/08/2014)
2014-12-08	5	SUMMONS Returned Executed by Ben Baker as to Federal Bureau of Investigation on 12/2/2014, answer due 12/23/2014. (Topic, Matthew) (Entered: 12/08/2014)
2015-01-14	6	DESIGNATION of Sarah J. North as U.S. Attorney for Defendant Federal Bureau of Investigation (North, Sarah) (Entered: 01/14/2015)
2015-01-21	7	ANSWER to Complaint by Federal Bureau of Investigation(North, Sarah) (Entered: 01/21/2015)
2015-01-22	8	STATUS Report by Ben Baker (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Jurisdictional Statement)(Topic, Matthew) (Entered: 01/22/2015)
2015-01-22	9	SUMMONS Returned Executed by Ben Baker as to Federal Bureau of Investigation on 12/18/2014, answer due 1/8/2015. (Attachments: # 1 Certificate of Service as to Federal Bureau of Investigation, # 2 Certificate of Service as to Attorney General of the United States, # 3 Certificate of Service as to United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois)(Topic, Matthew) (Entered: 01/22/2015)
2015-01-28	10	MINUTE entry before the Honorable Samuel Der-Yeghiayan: Status hearing held and continued to 05/13/15 at 9:00 a.m. Counsel for the Government appeared and reported to the Court that they will be producing some documents in April. Mailed notice (mw,) (Entered: 01/28/2015)
2015-05-13	11	MINUTE entry before the Honorable Samuel Der-Yeghiayan: Status hearing held and continued to 09/29/15 at 9:00 a.m. Counsel appeared and reported to the Court that document production has been ongoing and that they are anticipating further productions. Mailed notice (mw,) (Entered: 05/13/2015)
2015-09-29	12	MINUTE entry before the Honorable Samuel Der-Yeghiayan: Status hearing held and continued to 03/30/16 at 9:00 a.m. Counsel appeared and reported to the Court that there will be further production in March of 2016. Mailed notice (mw,) (Entered: 09/29/2015)
2016-03-23	13	ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiff Ben Baker by Elizabeth N. Mazur (Mazur, Elizabeth) (Entered: 03/23/2016)
2016-03-30	14	MINUTE entry before the Honorable Samuel Der-Yeghiayan: Status hearing held and continued to 06/02/16 at 9:00 a.m. Counsel appeared and reported to the Court that the parties are still looking into further production. Mailed notice (mw, ) (Entered: 03/30/2016)
2016-05-31	15	ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiff Ben Baker by Joshua Hart Burday (Burday, Joshua) (Entered: 05/31/2016)
2016-06-02	16	MINUTE entry before the Honorable Samuel Der-Yeghiayan: Status hearing held and continued to 12/07/16 at 9:00 a.m. Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment to be filed by 06/28/16. Government's response and cross motion for summary judgment to be filed by 08/09/16. Plaintiff's reply and response to cross motion to be filed by 08/30/16. Government's reply in further support of its cross motion to be filed by 09/20/16. Mailed notice (mw, ) (Entered: 06/02/2016)
2016-06-28	17	MOTION by Plaintiff Ben Baker for summary judgment and Memorandum Of Law in Support (Topic, Matthew) (Entered: 06/28/2016)
2016-06-28	18	RULE 56 56.1 Statement by Ben Baker regarding motion for summary judgment 17 (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C, # 4 Exhibit D, # 5 Exhibit E, # 6 Exhibit F, # 7 Exhibit G, # 8 Exhibit H, # 9 Exhibit I, # 10 Exhibit J, # 11 Exhibit K, # 12 Exhibit L, # 13 Exhibit M)(Topic, Matthew) (Entered: 06/28/2016)
2016-08-05	19	MOTION by Defendant Federal Bureau of Investigation for extension of time AGREED (North, Sarah) (Entered: 08/05/2016)
2016-08-05	20	AGREED NOTICE of Motion by Sarah J. North for presentment of extension of time 19 before Honorable Samuel Der-Yeghiayan on 8/10/2016 at 09:00 AM. (North, Sarah) (Entered: 08/05/2016)
2016-08-09	21	MINUTE entry before the Honorable Samuel Der-Yeghiayan:Defendant's motion for extension of time 19 is granted. Defendant's response to plaintiff's motion for summary judgment and cross motion for summary judgment with supporting memoranda shall be filed by 8/12/2016. Plaintiff's response is to be filed by 9/2/2016. Defendant's reply is to be filed by 9/23/2016.Mailed notice (jms, ) (Entered: 08/09/2016)
2016-08-10	22	NOTICE by Joshua Hart Burday of Change of Address (Burday, Joshua) (Entered: 08/10/2016)
2016-08-12	23	MOTION by Defendant Federal Bureau of Investigation for summary judgment (North, Sarah) (Entered: 08/12/2016)
2016-08-12	24	MEMORANDUM by Federal Bureau of Investigation in support of motion for summary judgment 23 and in opposition to plaintiff's motion for summary judgment (North, Sarah) (Entered: 08/12/2016)
2016-08-12	25	RULE 56 (a) Statement by Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding motion for summary judgment 23 (North, Sarah) (Entered: 08/12/2016)
2016-08-12	26	DECLARATION of David M. Hardy regarding motion for summary judgment 23 , Rule 56 statement 25 (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Exhibits A-Z)(North, Sarah) (Entered: 08/12/2016)
2016-08-12	27	RESPONSE by Defendant Federal Bureau of Investigation to Rule 56 statement, 18 (North, Sarah) (Entered: 08/12/2016)
2016-08-31	28	DESIGNATION of Craig Arthur Oswald as U.S. Attorney for Defendant Federal Bureau of Investigation (Oswald, Craig) (Entered: 08/31/2016)
2016-09-02	29	REPLY by Plaintiff Ben Baker in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment and Opposition to Defendant's Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment (Combined) (Topic, Matthew) (Entered: 09/02/2016)
2016-09-02	30	RESPONSE by Plaintiff Ben Baker to Defendant's 56.1 Statement (Topic, Matthew) (Entered: 09/02/2016)
2016-09-23	31	REPLY by Defendant Federal Bureau of Investigation to reply 29 , motion for summary judgment 23 , memorandum in support of motion 24 (Oswald, Craig) (Entered: 09/23/2016)
2016-12-06	32	MEMORANDUM Opinion: For the reasons stated in the accompanying Memorandum Opinion, the FBI's Motion for Summary Judgment 23 is granted and Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment 17 is denied. Hearing set for 12/7/16 is stricken and no appearance is necessary. See Order for further details. Civil case terminated. Signed by the Honorable Samuel Der-Yeghiayan on 12/6/2016. Mailed notice(ep, ) (Entered: 12/06/2016)
2016-12-06	33	ENTERED JUDGMENT. (ep, ) (Entered: 12/06/2016)
Hide Docket Events