Steven E. Perlman v. United States Dep't of Just., Janet Reno, Robert L. Ashbaugh, Howard L. Sribnick & Deborah Marie Briscoe, 380 F.3d 110 (2d Cir. 2004). · Go Syfert
Steven E. Perlman v. United States Dep't of Just., Janet Reno, Robert L. Ashbaugh, Howard L. Sribnick & Deborah Marie Briscoe, 380 F.3d 110 (2d Cir. 2004). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
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cited 2× by 2 distinct cases, 2005–2012 · 2 courts · …the factors are not all inclusive, and no one factor is dispositive. ⚠ not in text
31 citation events (31 in the last 25 years) across 9 distinct courts.
Strongest positive: The Intercept Media, Inc. v. National Park Service (nysd, 2024-12-06)
Treatment trajectory · 2005 → 2026 · click a year to view as-of
2005 2015 2026
Top citers, strongest first. 4 distinct citers. How cited ↗
discussed Cited as authority (quoted) The Intercept Media, Inc. v. National Park Service (2×) also: Cited "see, e.g."
S.D.N.Y. · 2024 · quote attribution · 1 verbatim quote · confidence low
because both exemptions are implicated here, we apply the stricter 7(c) evaluation of privacy interests.
discussed Cited "see" Associated Press v. United States Department of Defense
2d Cir. · 2009 · signal: see · confidence high
See Perlman v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 312 F.3d 100, 106 (2d Cir.2002), vacated and remanded, 541 U.S. 970 , 124 S.Ct. 1874 , 158 L.Ed.2d 464 (2004), aff'd 380 F.3d 110 (2d Cir.2004) (per curiam) (concluding that witnesses and third parties to the INS report of investigation “possess strong privacy interests, because being identified as part of a law enforcement investigation could subject them to ‘embarrassments and harassment’ ”).
discussed Cited "see" Associated Press v. United States Department of Defense
2d Cir. · 2009 · signal: see · confidence high
See Perlman v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 312 F.3d 100, 106 (2d Cir. 2007), vacated and remanded, 541 U.S. 970 (2004), aff’d 380 F.3d 110 (2d Cir. 2004) (per curiam) (concluding that witnesses and third parties to the INS report of investigation “possess strong privacy interests, because being identified as part of a law enforcement investigation could subject them to ‘embarrassments and harassment’”).
discussed Cited "see, e.g." The New York Times Company v. United States Department of Justice
S.D.N.Y. · 2025 · signal: see also · confidence low
Sept. 13, 2023) (quoting Halpern v. FBI, 181 F.3d 279, 297 (2d Cir. 1999)); see also Perlman v. DOJ, 312 F.3d 100, 107 (2d Cir. 2002) (stating that “a government employee who is the subject of an investigation possesses a strong privacy interest in avoiding disclosure of the details of the investigation”), vacated on other grounds, 541 U.S. 970 (2004), reaff’d on remand, 380 F.3d 110 (2d Cir. 2004).
Retrieving the full opinion text from the archive…
Steven E. PERLMAN, Plaintiff-Appellant
v.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Defendant-Appellee, Janet Reno, Robert L. Ashbaugh, Howard L. Sribnick and Deborah Marie Briscoe, Defendants
Docket 01-6219.
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Aug 12, 2004.
380 F.3d 110
2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 16625
2004 WL 1798111
Mark S. Zaid, Lobel, Novins & Lamont, Washington, DC, for Appellant., Andrew D. O’Toole, Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of New York (James B. Comey, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Gideon A. Schor, Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, on the brief), for Appellee.
Cabbanes, Pooler, Katzmann.
Cited by 25 opinions  |  Published
1 passage pin-cited by 1 case
Pinpoint authority: bottom 61%
Citer courts: S.D. New York (1)
PER CURIAM.

The relevant facts are set forth in our prior opinion, Perlman v. United States Dept. of Justice, 312 F.3d 100 (2d Cir.2002), in which we granted in part appellant Steven A. Perlman’s Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request and ordered the disclosure of certain portions of a Report of Investigation (“ROI”) by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General, while permitting the names of certain witnesses and third parties to be redacted. We also held that although there was a substantial amount of information in the ROI regarding Paul Virtue, the former INS general counsel, any privacy interest that Virtue may have had in the ROI was overcome by the substantial public interest in disclosure of the report.

By contrast, in National Archives and Records Admin. v. Favish, — U.S. -, 124 S.Ct. 1570, 158 L.Ed.2d 319 (2004), the Supreme Court considered an FOIA request for 10 death-scene photographs of the body of Vincent Foster, Jr., the deceased deputy counsel to President Clinton. The request was made by a citizen named Allan Favish who was skeptical about the conclusion by several federal investigations that Foster committed suicide. The Office of Independent Counsel refused Favish’s request, contending that FOIA’s Exemption 7(C), which prevents disclosure of “records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes,” precluded Favish’s request. 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(C). Favish brought suit, seeking an order compelling disclosure of the photographs. The Supreme Court ruled that, as an initial matter, Foster’s immediate family had both a personal and protectible privacy interest in the photographs even though the images only depicted Foster. The Court then imposed an additional burden on individuals making an FOIA claim:

[WJhere there is a privacy interest protected by Exemption 7(C) and the public interest being asserted is to show that responsible officials acted negligently or otherwise improperly in the performance of their duties, the requester must establish more than a bare suspicion in order to obtain disclosure. Rather, the requester must produce evidence that would warrant a belief by a reasonable person that the alleged Government impropriety might have occurred.

Favish, 124 S.Ct. at 1581.

The rule announced in Favish does not affect the conclusion we previously reached in this case. It goes without saying that the graphic photographs at issue in Favish are far different from the ROI sought by Perlman. Further, the ROI details improper conduct by INS officials in the operation of certain visa programs, whereas Favish speculated that the pictures would in some way suggest some investigative impropriety. Thus, Perlman’s request was not based on a mere suspicion of governmental impropriety; instead, he sought a report which substantiated his allegations. Finally, the information at issue in this case was not personal in nature, nor did it concern substantial privacy interests. We previously noted that while the ROI may contain some “minor personal background information about Virtue,” that information had been redacted. Perlman, 312 F.3d at 108. Further, the ROI[*112] focuses not on some private aspect of Virtue’s life but primarily on his performance as INS general counsel. Id.

For these reasons, after reconsideration in light of Favish, we find that the conclusion initially reached in Perlman was correct and need not be disturbed. We therefore AFFIRM.