5/2/05 Harold Caton v. Gale Norton,
Secretary of the Interior,

The Secretary of the Interior moved to dismiss the plaintiff’s pro se complaint seeking relief under the Freedom of Information Act on the ground that she had mooted his claim by producing all of the documents he had requested. The plaintiff objected, arguing that the declaration of a Department official submitted in support of the mootness contention provided a questionable explanation of an admitted irregularity in the document production. Noting that affidavits purporting to establish the adequacy of an agency’s FOIA response must be submitted in good faith, the court denied the Secretary’s motion because the plaintiff’s argument sufficed to overcome the presumption of good faith which attached to the declaration at issue. The court also allowed the plaintiff to take limited discovery into how the irregularity in the document production occurred. The court, however, denied the plaintiff’s motion to amend his complaint to seek specific performance of alleged promises by Department officials to produce certain documents without payment of processing fees, and to assert a fraud claim arising out of the irregularity in the production, on the ground that such claims were barred by sovereign immunity. 15 pages. Judge Joseph A. DiClerico, Jr.

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