Reported / Citable
Background
Erik Salaiz sued the National Archives and Records Administration after making a Freedom of Information Act request for two copies of the Zapruder film depicting President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
His second cause of action sought an order requiring NARA to place the films in its electronic reading room under FOIA’s provision requiring agencies to make certain records available electronically after they have been requested three or more times. NARA did not challenge standing, but the court considered the issue independently.
The Court’s Holding
The court dismissed Salaiz’s electronic-reading-room claim for lack of Article III standing. Although Salaiz sought to require online publication for the general public’s benefit, he did not allege a concrete, particularized injury from NARA’s failure to post the films online.
Salaiz had access to the requested records individually because they could be viewed at NARA’s facility. The court held that an asserted injury to the public could not be reframed as a personal injury, and that Salaiz also failed to allege tangible downstream consequences separate from the asserted denial of information. It therefore denied as moot NARA’s pending partial dismissal motions under Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). The case continues on Salaiz’s first cause of action.
Key Takeaways
- A claimed violation of FOIA’s electronic-reading-room provision does not alone establish Article III standing.
- A plaintiff must allege a concrete, individualized injury, not merely an interest in making records available to the public.
- Where a requester can access records individually, the absence of online publication does not itself show a particularized injury.
Why It Matters
The order applies Fifth Circuit standing principles to FOIA’s proactive-disclosure provision. Litigants seeking to compel agencies to post frequently requested records online must plead personal, concrete consequences flowing from the failure to publish, beyond a generalized public interest in broader access.