FOIA Advisor

Court opinions issued Oct. 14, 2015

Court Opinions (2015-2023)Allan BlutsteinComment

Aqualliance v. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (D.D.C.) -- finding that agency properly invoked Exemption 9 to withhold information regarding the construction, location, and depth of water wells; rejecting plaintiff's argument that the exemption applied to oil and gas wells only.  The court further found that Exemption 6 did not justify the agency's redaction of the names and addresses of various participants in water transfer programs, participants in real water valuations, and well owners because plaintiff demonstrated that the public interest in disclosure outweighed the privacy interest at stake.

Sack v. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- ruling that the FBI properly withheld:  (a) records relating to the selection process for FBI Polygraph Examiners under Exemption 2; (b) a recommendation concerning the feasibility of hiring non-agent polygraph examiners under Exemption 5 (deliberative process privilege); and (c) information about procedures and techniques used by FBI agents to conduct polygraph examinations pursuant to Exemption 7(E).  

Summaries of all cases since April 2015 are available here.