Church Of Scientology Of California v. United States Postal Service

593 F.2d 902 CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA, a non-profit corporation, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE, Benjamin Bailer, Postmaster General, Postal Inspection Service, William J. Cotter, Chief Inspector, Defendants-Appellees. No. 76-1610. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. March 26, 1979. Barry L. Weissman (argued), Beverly Hills, Cal., for plaintiff-appellant. Leonard Schaitman of Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., Mark N. Mutterperl (argued), of Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., for defendants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before ELY and TRASK, Circuit Judges, and EAST, * District Judge. ELY, Circuit Judge: 1 The Church of Scientology of California (the Church) appeals from a summary judgment entered against it and in favor of the United States Postal Service. The District Court upheld the refusal of the Postal Service to release to the Church a number of records assertedly gathered during the course of law enforcement investigations of the Church and its members.I. 2 The Church filed its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request 1 with the Postal Service seeking access…