Kean v. NASA: the court rules on NASA's search for its Kecksburg records

On 27 March 2007 the US District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, issued a memorandum opinion in Leslie Kean's Freedom of Information Act suit against NASA over records of the incident at Kecksburg, Pennsylvania, on 9 December 1965. The court found that NASA had not shown its searches were adequate, noting that most declarations from its Centers gave no detail of records searched or terms used, and that a renewed search of Records Center boxes had found responsive documents. It upheld NASA's withholding of two emails under Exemption 5, denied both motions in part without prejudice, and directed the parties to propose search and documentation procedures by 30 April 2007.

1 document·5 points

Kean's FOIA request of 31 January 2003 sought documents on Kecksburg, the "Fragology Files" for 1962 to 1967, Project Moon Dust and "Cosmos 96"; NASA admitted its first two searches were inadequate (p. 1)
Only one of ten Center letters, from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, specified the databases searched and the search terms used (p. 6)
Three of nineteen boxes sought from the Washington National Record Center were reported missing; a fourth search in 2006 found responsive documents in the remaining sixteen (pp. 8-9)
The court held that the record left "significant doubt" about the searches, citing NASA documents on Cosmos 96 and the documents found in the fourth search (p. 17)
After in camera review, two emails between McConnell and attorney Bierbower were held covered by the deliberative process privilege (p. 19)

Documents

Document Kean v. NASA, 1:03-cv-02509 U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (govinfo)· 21 pp.