FOIA Advisor

FOIA News: Gov't decisively wins Exemption 5 SCOTUS case

FOIA News (2015-2023)Allan BlutsteinComment

In Barrett’s first majority opinion, court sides with government in FOIA dispute

By James Romoser, SCOTUSblog, Mar 4, 2021

The federal government does not have to fully disclose certain draft regulatory documents under the Freedom of Information Act, even if those documents reflect an agency’s final view about a policy proposal that it later abandons, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the opinion, her first majority opinion since joining the court in October.

The court sided 7-2 against the Sierra Club, which filed a FOIA request for “draft biological opinions” that environmental officials produced in 2013. Those opinions analyzed potential threats to endangered species from a proposed rule on underwater structures used to cool down industrial machinery.

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