Gillan v. US Army

March 18, 1994 [NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT

No. 93-1825

ROBERT A. GILLIN,

Plaintiff, Appellant,

v.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY,

Defendant, Appellee.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

[Hon. Steven J. McAuliffe, U.S. District Judge]

Before

Breyer, Chief Judge,

Torruella and Selya, Circuit Judges.

Robert A. Gillin on brief pro se.

Peter E. Papps, United States Attorney, and Gretchen Leah

Witt, First Assistant U.S. Attorney, on brief for appellee.

Per Curiam. Plaintiff brought a pro se action for

declaratory relief under the Freedom of Information Act, 5

U.S.C. 552 ("FOIA"), claiming that the United States Army

Corps of Engineers wrongfully denied him access to a number

of documents which he asked to review relating to a

construction permit issued by the Corps. The district court

granted summary judgment to the defendant on the ground that

plaintiff had failed to raise a substantial issue relating to

the reasonableness of the Corps' search for the documents

requested. Although plaintiff insisted that the Corps' files

should contain additional documents, the Corps' detailed

affidavits asserted that it had produced all documents

relating to the subject permit and explained the absence of

other documents. The court observed that the crux of

plaintiff's disagreement with the Corps apparently relates to

his perception that the permit was improperly issued, a

matter not reviewable under the guise of an FOIA action.

Reviewing the dismissal de novo, we agree with the district

court's analysis and affirm substantially for the reasons set

forth in Judge McAuliffe's thorough memorandum and order of

May 28, 1993. We also find no abuse of discretion in the

district court's stay of discovery pending the outcome of the

summary judgment motion.

Affirmed.

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