Covington & Burling v. Food and Nutrition Service
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
744 F. Supp. 314 (1990)
Facts
The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) (defendant) imposed a food-stamp quality-control error-rate penalty against Utah. Utah sought a waiver of the penalty, citing uncontrollable factors that increased the error rate. FNS granted the waiver only in part. Utah requested a review of the remaining penalty by the State Food Stamp Appeals Board (the board). Utah filed a motion to compel FNS to produce particular documents related to the penalty determination. The board instructed FNS to produce the documents but notified Utah’s representation, Covington & Burling (C&B) (plaintiff), that the board was not empowered to compel production by FNS. Thereafter, C&B requested 108 documents from FNS pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). FNS released most of the documents in redacted form, withholding 11 documents in their entirety. C&B sued, contending that FNS withheld documents in violation of FOIA. FNS moved for summary judgment, submitting an index describing each withheld document, explaining FNS’s decision-making process about the penalty determination, and detailing why each document was withheld.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Harris, J.)
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