Seth Rosenfeld v. United States Department of Justice the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Seth Rosenfeld sued the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (the government) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to obtain information about FBI investigations of several individuals and 1960s protests at the University of California, Berkeley. The government appeals from the district court’s grant of summary judgment, which ordered the government to release various documents it sought to withhold under FOIA exemptions.

I. Background and Proceedings Below

From late 1981 through early 1984, Rosen-feld filed requests with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under FOIA, 5 U.S.C. § 552 . Rosenfeld sought release of documents relating to the FBI’s investigation of people and organizations involved in the Free Speech Movement (FSM). The FSM organized demonstrations at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), which protested campus regulations restricting political activities on campus grounds. The FBI located 8,432 documents responsive to the requests. It released 1,795 pages in their entirety, released 4,985 in redacted form, and withheld 1,652 pages in their entirety.

The parties litigated over documents in nine FBI files, but…