Louis Francis v. Federal Bureau of Investigations

Filing 82

STIPULATION and ORDER Settling Action signed by Chief Judge Anthony W. Ishii on 07/02/2009. CASE CLOSED. (Flores, E)

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L A W R E N C E G. BROWN A c tin g United States Attorney Y O S H IN O R I H. T. HIMEL #66194 A s s is ta n t U. S. Attorney 5 0 1 I Street, Suite 10-100 S a c ra m e n to , California 95814 T e le p h o n e : [phone] A tto rn e ys for Defendant

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE E A S T E R N DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

L O U IS FRANCIS, P l a in tif f , v. F E D E R A L BUREAU OF IN V E S T IG A T IO N , D e f e n d a n t.

1 :0 6 -c v -0 0 9 6 8 -A W I-D L B P A R T IE S ' STIPULATION AND ORDER S E T T L I N G ACTION

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 T h e parties recite as follows: 1 . This agreement concerns the approximately 3481 pages of agency records p ro c e ss e d under FOIA by defendant in this action. 2 . Defendant has allowed plaintiff to inspect, without notetaking or copying, a "readth ro u g h " copy of all 3481 pages processed under FOIA in this action.
PARTIES' STIPULATION AND ORDER SETTLING ACTION

T h e parties hereby recite and stipulate, subject to the Order of the Court as provided f o r hereon, to settle this civil action on the stated terms. The parties are Louis Francis, p la in tif f and requester under the Freedom of Information Act, representing himself, and the F e d e ra l Bureau of Investigation, responding agency and defendant, appearing through its c o u n se l of record. R E C IT A L S

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3 . A "read-through" copy here means a copy of the record as it existed before a p p lica tio n of the redactions in suit, but with the addition of indications of what was withheld a n d under which FOIA exemption. For example, if a page were totally withheld it might have a diagonal slash across its face but still be readable. If a word or phrase were redacted, the " re a d -th ro u g h " copy might have a box showing what was obscured in the redacted version, b u t the word or phrase would still be readable in the "read-through" copy. Either type of w ith h o ld in g might be labeled with a reference to one or more FOIA exemptions. The parties u n d e rs ta n d that a redaction made before the record came to defendant cannot be unmade; such a redaction appears in the "read-through" copy in the form in which it came to defendant. 4 . During the inspection, plaintiff decided to narrow the scope of the action to include o n ly the pages material to plaintiff's concerns. The pages that are the subject of the action a f ter that narrowing are the pages stated in the handwritten list titled "Pages of Interest to P la in tif f " that is attached to the "Agreement between Plaintiff and Defendant" signed June 23, 2009. 5 . Defendant is carrying out a final release of the listed pages to plaintiff under FOIA. Defendant is redacting some information from the records released. Defendant regards the re d a c tio n s as minimal. 6 . The records as released contain some individuals' names or other personal id e n tif ie rs . Defendant regards the public interest in release of that information as o u tw e ig h in g the identified individuals' privacy interests. T E R M S OF SETTLEMENT 7 . Defendant shall release to plaintiff the pages listed in the handwritten list titled " P a g es of Interest to Plaintiff" that is attached to the Agreement between Plaintiff and D e f e n d a n t signed June 23, 2009, after what defendant regards as minimal redactions. 8 . As a condition of this settlement, the Court is requested to approve defendant's re lea se of individuals' names and other personal identifiers in the final FOIA release in this a c ti o n .

PARTIES' STIPULATION AND ORDER SETTLING ACTION

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9 . The FOIA (i.e. LAPD Rampart) claim shall be dismissed with prejudice, each party to bear its own costs.

D a te d : June 30, 2009

/s/ Louis Francis LOUIS FRANCIS P la in tif f Pro Se L A W R E N C E G. BROWN A c tin g United States Attorney B y: /s/ Y H T Himel YOSHINORI H. T. HIMEL A s s is ta n t U. S. Attorney A tto rn e ys for Defendant

D a te d : June 30, 2009 7 8 9 10 11 12 ORDER 13 I t is hereby ORDERED as follows: 14

1 . The release of the materials stated in the handwritten list titled "Pages of Interest to 15 P la in tif f " that is attached to the Agreement between Plaintiff and Defendant signed June 23, 16 2 0 0 9 , with some redactions by defendant, is APPROVED and SO ORDERED. 17 2 . Leave for defendant and its agents to release the names or other personal identifiers 18 c h o s e n by them, in their discretion, in the materials stated in the list, is GRANTED. 19 3 . Plaintiff's written waiver of FOIA claims for release of the materials processed in 20 th is action but not listed in the abovementioned handwritten list is APPROVED. There is no 21 o b lig a tio n for defendant to release the materials not stated in the list. 22 4 . The FOIA (i.e. LAPD Rampart) claim is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, each 23 s id e to bear its own costs. 24 IT IS SO ORDERED. 25 26 27 28
PARTIES' STIPULATION AND ORDER SETTLING ACTION

D a te d : 0m8i78

July 2, 2009

/s/ Anthony W. Ishii C H IE F UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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