COASTAL STATES GAS CORPORATION, v. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, Appellant

OPINION OF THE COURT

ADAMS, Circuit Judge.

This appeal presents two interrelated questions dealing with the role of a district court in passing on requests for information submitted under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B) (FOIA). First, did the district court abuse its discretion in refusing to consider a revised index and affidavit, submitted by the government — immediately prior to the hearing on the plaintiff’s “motion for partial judgment” — to explain the claimed exemptions? Second, did the district court err in ordering a government agency to produce forthwith all…