FOIA Advisor

Court opinion issued Mar. 31, 2024

Court Opinions (2024)Allan BlutsteinComment

Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Wash. v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- on remand from the D.C. Circuit, holding that: (1) the names of federal contractors who supplied the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) with pentobarbital qualified as commercial information under Exemption 4 because disclosure would reveal that “the contractors have sold a product and/or service to the government, thereby ‘actually reveal[ing] basic commercial operations” of the contractors.’”; (2) BOP established that the disputed contract terms were confidential under Exemption 4 by “showing how the contract terms at issue could be cross-referenced with public information to identify the contractors”; (3).BOP established that foreseeable harm would result from disclosure of the contractors’ names and contract terms by explaining that identified companies are “‘commonly subject to harassment, threats, and negative publicity leading to commercial decline’”; and (4) certain records needed to be reviewed in camera review to resolve whether DOJ had publicly shared withheld information.

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2024 are available here. Earlier opinions are available here.