FOIA Advisor

FOIA News: DOD may withhold bombing images, 2nd Cir. rules

FOIA News (2015-2023)Allan BlutsteinComment

Images of Terrorist Bombs Stay Out of Reach in Suit Against Iran

Bloomberg Law, Aug. 10, 2020

  • Previous disclosure of similar images irrelevant

  • Specific requests exempt from FOIA disclosure

The Department of Defense properly withheld images of the damage caused by terrorist attacks on armored vehicles from the law firm suing Iran on behalf of military personnel injured in the attacks, the Second Circuit said Monday.

Osen LLC filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the images, saying they could be disclosed because the army previously released similar images from other attacks. Citing FOIA Exemption 1, which applies to information about national security that’s classified as secret, the army refused the request.

Full article here (accessible with subscription).

Copy of opinion here.