The Bureau Of National Affairs, Inc. v. United States Department Of Justice

742 F.2d 1484 (D.C. Cir. 1984)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The Bureau of National Affairs (P) filed a FOIA request with the Department of Justice (D) for all records of appointments and meetings between Baxter, then Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust and all parties outside D. D denied the request on the ground that the materials were not 'agency records' subject to disclosure under FOIA. They were Baxter’s calendar entries which included personal appointments wholly unrelated to the business of the Antitrust Division and did not always reflect changes in appointments or cancellations of meetings. The district court granted D's motion for summary judgment. The Environmental Defense Fund (P) requested the Office of Management and Budget (D) to disclose several categories of documents relating to the EPA's implementation of federal hazardous waste laws. D denied the request in part. Following exhaustion of its administrative remedies, P filed suit in district court. D claimed the appointment calendars and telephone logs of six D officials were not agency records. The district court granted D's motion for summary judgment in part and denied it in part. The court ordered D to release certain documents, including papers relating to EPA's budgetary recommendations for fiscal year 1982. The court rejected D's claim that those documents are predecisional materials exempt from disclosure under Exemption 5 of FOIA. Both Ps appealed.