Stolt-Nielsen Transportation Group Ltd. v. United States

The D.C. Circuit vacated and remanded a decision of the district court granting summary judgment to the United States in a Freedom of Information Act suit. The appellant, a parcel tanker shipping company, sought amnesty agreements entered into by the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice under its corporate leniency program. The court found that only two possible FOIA exemptions were applicable and that the record did not support the district court's conclusion that exempt portions of the documents were not reasonably segregable.

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Argued April 21, 2008

Before: SENTELLE, Chief Judge, TATEL and GARLAND, Circuit Judges.

This is an appeal by Stolt-Nielsen Transportation Group (“Stolt-Nielsen”) from a summary judgment in favor of the United States in a FOIA action in which Stolt-Nielsen had sought, inter alia, all amnesty agreements entered into by the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice since 1993. The district court held that the agreements were exempt under several provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552. The court further held that no portions of the documents were “reasonably segregable” so as to make provision of redacted versions of the exempt documents subject to release under FOIA. Upon review, we conclude that only two possible exemption provisions are applicable and that the record does not support a conclusion that exempt portions of the documents are not reasonably segregable. We therefore vacate the judgment of the district court and remand the matter to the district court for further proceedings to establish the feasibility of the release of redacted versions of the amnesty agreements.

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