Jordan v. U.S. Department of Justice

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Pro se Plaintiff-Appellant Mark Jordan brought this action under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act. Plaintiff was convicted of multiple armed robberies in 1994 and the stabbing death of a fellow inmate in 1999. When he filed this action, he was imprisoned at an Administrative Maximum Facility, known as the ADX or the Supermax. Plaintiff claimed that Defendants improperly denied several separate requests for information he made pursuant to FOIA or the Privacy Act. First, Plaintiff asked for the names and titles of all staff at the Supermax, denied on the basis that the request could "reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual." Second, Plaintiff asked for all documents pertaining to his psychological or psychiatric profile maintained by the prison. Plaintiff was given redacted copies of the information because some of the information in those files would not otherwise be available by law to anyone other than "an agency in litigation with the agency." In his third request, Plaintiff asked for copies of all mail that was sent to or from him and copied to staff at the Supermax. This request was denied as "records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes that would disclose" law enforcement or prosecutorial strategy that otherwise would not be subject to disclosure. The district court entered judgment in favor of Defendants. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit was not persuaded that Plaintiff was entitled to the documents he requested through FOIA, and affirmed the district court's judgment.