Kean v. NASA, 1:03-cv-02509

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Fed. R. Civ. P. 56; Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322
(1986); Waterhouse v. District of Columbia, 298 F.3d 989, 991
(D.C. Cir. 2002). In determining whether a genuine issue of
material fact exists, the Court must view all facts in the light
most favorable to the non-moving party. See Matsushita Elec.
Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587 (1986). The
non-moving party’s opposition, however, must consist of more than
mere unsupported allegations or denials and must be supported by
affidavits or other competent evidence setting forth specific
facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Fed. R.
Civ. P. 56(e); see Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 324.
ANALYSIS
I. Sufficiency of NASA’s Search
In order to fulfill FOIA’s goal of providing public access
to government documents, agencies must make more than perfunctory
searches and must follow through on obvious leads to discover
requested documents. Valencia-Lucena v. U.S. Coast Guard, 180
F.3d 321, 325 (D.C. Cir. 1999). “An agency fulfills its
obligations under FOIA if it can demonstrate beyond material
doubt that its search was ‘reasonably calculated to uncover all
relevant documents.’” Id. (quoting Truitt v. U.S. Dep’t of
State, 897 F.2d 540, 542 (D.C. Cir.1990)). “[T]he agency must
show that it made a good faith effort to conduct a search for the
Case 1:03-cv-02509-EGS Document 45 Filed 03/27/07 Page 11 of 21