Summary of a Recent
Judicial Development in
Administrative Law

Raisin Handler Denied, Allowed Access to Documents Under FOIA

Harrison M. Pittman
Research Assistant Professor of Law

In Lion Raisins, Inc. v. United States Dep't of Agric., 354 F.3d 1072, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a Department of Agriculture determination to deny under the "trade secrets" and "law enforcement" exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 7 U.S.C. § 552, a raisin handler's request for documents. Lion Raisins, Inc. (Lion), a California raisin handler, submitted FOIA requests for documents "related to USDA raisin inspections conducted at Lion's packing facility and the facilities of competitors, and two internal reports related to the USDA's investigation of Lion." Id. at 1075-76. Lion was the subject of a USDA-initiated criminal investigation. See id. at 1075. The USDA denied the requests under the "trade secrets" and "law enforcement" exemptions to FOIA, exemptions that Lion claimed the USDA misapplied. See id. See also id. at 1078 (setting forth standard of review). The Ninth Circuit affirmed the USDA's decision to deny Lion access to its competitors' raisin inspections. See id. It reversed and remanded the USDA's decision to deny Lion copies of the reports related to USDA's investigation of Lion, stating that "[o]n remand, the district court should require USDA to submit detailed public declarations, testimony, or other material in support of its invocation of the 'law enforcement' exception and afford Lion an opportunity to advocate for the release of the reports." Id. at 1085. The court also reversed the USDA's decision to deny Lion copies of the originals of the inspection documents for Lion's operation, ordering that the documents immediately be produced. See id.

The case was decided on January 15, 2004; this summary was posted Apr. 8, 2005.