Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/410/73/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 13:47:53+00:00

Document:
Respondent Members of Congress brought suit under the Freedom of Information Act of 1966 to compel disclosure of nine documents that various officials had prepared for the President concerning a scheduled underground nuclear test. All but three were classified as Top Secret or Secret under E.O. 10501, and petitioners represented that all were inter-agency or intra-agency documents used in the Executive Branch's decisionmaking processes. The District Court granted petitioners' motion for summary judgment on the grounds that each of the documents was exempt from compelled disclosure by 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(1) (hereafter Exemption 1), excluding matters "specifically required by Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of the national defense or foreign policy," and § 552(b)(5) (hereafter Exemption 5), excluding "inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters which would not be available by law to a party . . . in litigation with the agency." The Court of Appeals reversed, concluding (a) that Exemption 1 permits nondisclosure of only the secret portions of classified documents but requires disclosure of the nonsecret components if separable, and (b) that Exemption 5 shields only governmental "decisional processes" and not factual information unless "inextricably intertwined with policymaking processes." The District Court was ordered to examine the documents in camera to determine both aspects of separability.
1. Exemption 1 does not permit compelled disclosure of the six classified documents or in camera inspection to sift out "non-secret components," and petitioners met their burden of demonstrating that the documents were entitled to protection under that exemption. Pp. 410 U. S. 79-84.
in camera inspection that the documents sought are clearly beyond the range of material that would be available to a private part in litigation with a Government agency. Pp. 410 U. S. 85-94.
150 U.S. App. D.C. 233, 464 F.2d 742, reversed and remanded.
WHITE, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C.J., and STEWART, BLACKMUN, and POWELL, JJ., joined. STEWART, J., filed a concurring opinion, post, p. 410 U. S. 94. BRENNAN, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, in which MARSHALL, J., joined, post, p. 410 U. S. 95. DOUGLAS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, post, p. 410 U. S. 105. REHNQUIST, J., tool no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
"inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters which would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency,"
§ 552(b)(5). It is the construction and scope of these exemptions that are at issue here.
"to review the annual underground nuclear test program and to encompass within this review requests for authorization of specific scheduled tests."
"prepared and used solely for transmittal to the President as advice and recommendations and set forth the views and opinions of the individuals and agencies preparing the documents so that the President might be fully apprised of varying viewpoints and have been used for no other purpose."
"If the nonsecret components [of such documents] are separable from the secret remainder and my be read separately without distortion of meaning, they too should be disclosed."
150 U.S.App.D.C. 233, 237, 464 F.2d 742, 746. The court instructed the District Judge to examine the classified documents "looking toward their possible separation for purposes of disclosure or nondisclosure." Ibid.
In addition, the Court of Appeals concluded that all nine contested documents fell within subsection (b)(5) of the Act, but construed that exemption as shielding only the "decisional processes" reflected in internal Government memoranda, not "factual information" unless that information is "inextricably intertwined with policymaking processes." The court then ordered the District Judge to examine the documents in camera (including, presumably, any "nonsecret components" of the six classified documents) to determine if "factual data" could be separated out and disclosed "without impinging on the policymaking decisional processes intended to be protected by this exemption." We granted certiorari, 405 U.S. 974, and now reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
The Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, [Footnote 5] is a revision of § 3, the public disclosure section, of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 1002 (1964 ed.). Section 3 was generally recognized as falling far short of its disclosure goals, and came to be looked upon more as a withholding statute than a disclosure statute. See S.Rep. No. 813, 89th Cong., 1st Sess., 5 (1965) (hereinafter S.Rep. No. 813); H.R.Rep. No. 1497, 89th Cong., 2d Sess., 5-6 (1966) (hereinafter H.R.Rep. No. 1497). The section was plagued with vague phrases, such as that exempting from disclosure "any function of the United States requiring secrecy in the public interest." Moreover, even "matters of official record" were only to be made available to "persons properly and directly concerned" with the information. And the section provided no remedy for wrongful withholding of information. The provisions of the Freedom of Information Act stand in sharp relief against those of § 3. The Act eliminates the "properly and directly concerned" test of access, stating repeatedly that official information shall be made available "to the public," "for public inspection." Subsection (b) of the Act creates nine exemptions from compelled disclosures. These exemptions are explicitly made exclusive, 5 U.S.C. § 552(c), and are plainly intended to set up concrete, workable standards for determining whether particular material may be withheld or must be disclosed. Aggrieved citizens are given a speedy remedy in district courts, where "the court shall determine the matter de novo and the burden is on the agency to sustain its action." 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3). Noncompliance with court orders may be punished by contempt. Ibid.
It is in the context of the Act's attempt to provide a "workable formula" that "balances, and protects all interests," that the conflicting claims over the documents in this case must be considered.
Subsection (b)(1) of the Act exempts from forced disclosure matters "specifically required by Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of the national defense or foreign policy." According to the Irwin affidavit, the six documents for which Exemption 1 is now claimed were all duly classified Top Secret or Secret, pursuant to Executive Order 10501, 3 CFR 280 (Jan. 1, 1970). That order was promulgated under the authority of the President in 1953, 18 Fed.Reg. 7049, and, since that time, has served as the basis for the classification by the Executive Branch of information "which requires protection in the interests of national defense." [Footnote 7] We do not believe that Exemption 1 permits compelled disclosure of documents, such as the six here that were classified pursuant to this Executive Order. Nor does the Exemption permit in camera inspection of such documents to sift out so-called "nonsecret components." Obviously, this test was not the only alternative available. But Congress chose to follow the Executive's determination in these matters, and that choice must be honored.
to conflicting interpretations, often colored by personal prejudices and predilections. It admits of no clear delineations."
"citizens both in and out of Government can agree to restrictions on categories of information which the President has determined must be kept secret to protect the national defense or to advance foreign policy, such as matters classified pursuant to Executive Order 10501."
"crystal clear that the bill in no way affects categories of information which the President . . . has determined must be classified to protect the national defense or to advance foreign policy. These areas of information most generally are classified under Executive Order No. 10501."
agency." This language clearly contemplates that the public is entitled to all such memoranda or letters that a private party could discover in litigation with the agency. Drawing such a line between what may be withheld and what must be disclosed is not without difficulties. In many important respects, the rules governing discovery in such litigation have remained uncertain from the very beginnings of the Republic. [Footnote 12] Moreover, at best, the discovery rules can only be applied under Exemption 5 by way of rough analogies. For example, we do not know whether the Government is to be treated as though it were a prosecutor, a civil plaintiff, or a defendant. [Footnote 13] Nor does the Act, by its terms, permit inquiry into particularized needs of the individual seeking the information, although such an inquiry would ordinarily be made of a private litigant. Still, the legislative history of Exemption 5 demonstrates that Congress intended to incorporate generally the recognized rule that "confidential intra-agency advisory opinions . . . are privileged from inspection." Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. v. United States, 141 Ct.Cl.
"There is a public policy involved in this claim of privilege for this advisory opinion -- the policy of open, frank discussion between subordinate and chief concerning administrative action."
"It was pointed out in the comments of many of the agencies that it would be impossible to have any frank discussion of legal or policy matters in writing if all such writings were to be subjected to public scrutiny. It was argued, and with merit, that efficiency of Government would be greatly hampered if, with respect to legal and policy matters, all Government agencies were prematurely forced to 'operate in a fishbowl.' The committee is convinced of the merits of this general proposition, but it has attempted to delimit the exception as narrowly as consistent with efficient Government operation."
"inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters dealing solely with matters of law or policy. [Footnote 17]"
Exemption 5 was changed to substantially its present form. But plainly the change cannot be read as suggesting that all factual material was to be rendered exempt from compelled disclosure. Congress sensibly discarded a wooden exemption that could have meant disclosure of manifestly private and confidential policy recommendations simply because the document containing them also happened to contain factual data. That decision should not be taken, however, to embrace an equally wooden exemption permitting the withholding of factual material otherwise available on discovery merely because it was placed in a memorandum with matters of law, policy, or opinion. It appears to us that Exemption 5 contemplates that the public's access to internal memoranda will be governed by the same flexible, common sense approach that has long governed private parties' discovery of such documents involved in litigation with Government agencies. And, as noted, that approach extended and continues to extend to the discovery of purely factual material appearing in those documents in a form that is severable without compromising the private remainder of the documents.
it is argued, the documents here were submitted directly to the President by top-level Government official, involve matters of major significance, and contain, by their very nature, a blending of factual presentations and policy recommendations that are necessarily "inextricably intertwined with policymaking processes." 150 U.S.App.D.C. at 237, 464 F.2d at 746. For these reasons, the petitioners object both to disclosure of any portions of the documents and to in camera inspection by the District Court.
To some extent, this argument was answered by the Court of Appeals, for its remand expressly directed the District Judge to disclose only such factual material that is not "intertwined with policymaking processes" and that may safely be disclosed "without impinging on the policymaking decisional processes intended to be protected by this exemption." We have no reason to believe that, if petitioners' characterization of the documents is accurate, the District Judge would go beyond the limits of the remand and in any way compromise the confidentiality of deliberative information that is entitled to protection under Exemption 5.
"It seems . . . obvious that the very purpose of the privilege, the encouragement of open expression of opinion as to governmental policy, is somewhat impaired by a requirement to submit the evidence even [in camera]."
thereof, by means short of submitting them for in camera inspection.
A separate action was brought to enjoin the test itself. Committee for Nuclear Responsibility v. Seaborg (DC, Civ. Action No. 1346-71). After adverse decisions below, plaintiffs in that case applied for an injunction in this Court. On November 6, 1971, we denied the application, Committee for Nuclear Responsibility v. Schlesinger, 404 U. S. 917, and the test was conducted that same day.
It should be noted that in the District Court respondents stated that they "have exhausted their administrative remedies [and] . . . have complied with all applicable regulations." Petitioners did not contest those assertions.
Petitioners also moved for dismissal of the suit insofar as respondents sought disclosure of the documents in their official capacities as Members of Congress. The District Court granted this motion, but the Court of Appeals did not reach the issue. Accordingly, the issue is not before this Court.
A. A covering memorandum from Mr. Irwin to the President, dated July 17, 1971. This memorandum is classified Top Secret pursuant to Executive Order 10501.
1. A letter, classified Secret, from the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to Mr. Irwin.
2. A report, classified Top Secret, from the Defense Program Review Committee, of which Dr. Henry Kissinger was the Chairman.
3. The Environmental Impact Statement on the proposed Cannikin test, prepared by the AEC in 1971, pursuant to § 102(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 83 Stat. 853, 42 U.S.C. § 4332(C). This document had always been "publicly available," and a copy was attached to the Irwin affidavit.
4. A transcript of an oral briefing given by the AEC to the Committee. This document was classified Secret.
5. A memorandum from the Council on Environmental Quality to Mr. Irwin. This memorandum was separately unclassified.
1. A letter from Mr. William Ruckelshaus, for the Environmental Protection Agency. This letter was classified Top Secret, but has now been declassified.
2. A letter from Mr. Russell Train, for the Council on Environmental Quality. Although the Irwin affidavit states that this letter was classified Top Secret, petitioners concede that it was so classified "only because it was to be attached to the Undersecretary's Report." Brief for Petitioners 6 n. 5.
3. A letter of Dr. Edward E. David, Jr., for the Office of Science and Technology. This letter is classified Top Secret.
These eight documents were also described as having been classified as "Restricted Data . . . pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended. (42 U.S.C. [§§ 2014(y)], 2161 and 2162.)" Petitioners have not asserted that these provisions, standing alone, would justify withholding the documents in this case. But see 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(3), relating to matters "specifically exempted from disclosure by statute."
The Act was passed in 1966, 80 Stat. 383, and codified in its present form in 1967. 81 Stat. 54.
"It is the purpose of the present bill . . . to establish a general philosophy of full agency disclosure unless information is exempted under clearly delineated statutory language. . . ."
"At the same time that a broad philosophy of 'freedom of information' is enacted into law, it is necessary to protect certain equally important rights of privacy with respect to certain information in Government files, such as medical and personnel records. It is also necessary for the very operation of our Government to allow it to keep confidential certain material, such as the investigatory files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
See also H.R.Rep. No. 1497, p. 6.
Executive Order 10501 has been superseded, as of June 1, 1972, by Executive Order 11652, 37 Fed.Reg. 5209, which similarly provides for the classification of material "in the interest of the national defense or foreign relations."
Portions of two documents for which Exemption 1 is claimed were ordered disclosed in connection with the action brought to enjoin the test (see n 1, supra). Petitioners seek no relief with respect to any matters already disclosed.
The House Report, it is true, indicates that the President must determine that the exempted matter be kept secret. Clearly, however, Executive Order 10501 is based on presidential authority, and specifically delegates that authority to "the departments, agencies, and other units of the executive branch as hereinafter specified." 3 CFR § 281 (Jan. 1, 1970) (emphasis added). One may disagree with the scope of the delegation or with how the delegated authority is exercised in particular cases, but the authority itself nevertheless remains the President's, and it is his judgment that the first exemption was designed to respect.
Brief for Respondents 18. Respondents note that the preamble of the new Executive Order 11652 (see n 7, supra), specifies that material classified pursuant to its provisions "is expressly exempted from public disclosure by Section 552(b)(1) of Title 5, United States Code." Executive Order 10501 has no comparable recital, but only the sheerest ritualism would distinguish the effect of the two orders on any such basis. Indeed, respondents' apparent acceptance of the new order as a justifiable ground for resisting disclosure under Exemption 1 points to the absurdity of maintaining that Executive Order 10501 is irrelevant to the Act.
This conclusion is not undermined by the new Executive Order 11652, which calls for the separation of documents into classified and unclassified portions, where practicable. 37 Fed.Reg. 5212. On the contrary, that new order provides that the separating be done by the Executive, not the Judiciary, and, like its predecessor, permits declassification of material only in accordance with its procedures. More importantly, the very existence of the new order demonstrates that the Executive exercises a continuing responsibility for determining the need for secrecy in matters that affect national defense and foreign policy. Exemption 1 recognizes that responsibility by leaving to the Executive, under such orders as shall be developed, the decision of what may be disclosed and what must be kept secret.
"(5) inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters which would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency."
The three documents are: the CEQ memorandum to Mr. Irwin, the Train letter, and the Ruckelshaus letter, which has now been declassified.
See generally 4 J. Moore, Federal Practice ¦ 26.61 (1972), and authorities collected (id. at ¦ 26.61 n. 2) (hereinafter Moore); 8 J. Wigmore, Evidence §§ 2378, 2379 (McNaughton rev.1961) (hereinafter Wigmore).
There were early disputes over the issue of Executive privilege. See Chief Justice Marshall's decisions in the trial of United States v. Burr, 25 F.Cas. 30 (No. 14,692d) and 25 F.Cas. 187, 191-192 (No. 14,694) (CCD Va. 1807), discussed in 8 Wigmore § 2371, pp. 739-741 (3d ed.1940) and 4 Moore ¦ 26.61[6.-4]. See also Wigmore § 2378, p. 805 and n. 21.
Different rules have been held to apply in each situation. See, e.g., United States v. Andolschek, 142 F.2d 503, 506 (CA2 1944) (L. Hand, J.) (United States as prosecutor); Bank Line, Ltd. v. United States, 76 F.Supp. 801 (SDNY 1948) (United States as defendant). Moreover, in actions under the Freedom of Information Act, courts are not given the option to impose alternative sanctions -- short of compelled disclosure -- such as striking a particular defense or dismissing the Government's action.
See, e.g., Machin v. Zuckert, 114 U.S.App.D.C. 335, 316 F.2d 336, cert. denied, 375 U.S. 896 (1963) (Air Force Aircraft Accident Investigation Report); Boeing Airplane Co. v. Coggeshall, 108 U.S.App.D.C. 106, 112-113, 280 F.2d 654, 660-661 (1960) (Renegotiation Board documents); Olson Rug Co. v. NLRB, 291 F.2d 655, 662 (CA7 1961) (no claim that NLRB documents are "exclusively policy recommendations"); Carl Zeiss Stiftung v. V.E.B. Carl Zeiss, Jena, 40 F.R.D. 318, 327 (DC 1966), aff'd, 128 U.S.App.D.C. 10, 384 F.2d 979, cert. denied, 389 U.S. 952 (1967) (discovery denied because documents "wholly of opinions, recommendations and deliberations"); McFadden v. Avco Corp., 278 F.Supp. 57, 59-60 (MD Ala.1967), and cases cited therein.
In United States v. Cotton Valley Operators Comm., 9 F.R.D. 719, 720 (WD La.1949), aff'd by equally divided court, 339 U.S. 940 (1950), the United States offered to file "an abstract of factual information" contained in the contested documents (FBI reports).
See, e.g., Machin v. Zuckert, supra, at 340, 316 F.2d at 341 (private tort action; discovery of Air Force Aircraft Accident Investigation Report); Boeing Airplane Co. v. Cogeshall, supra, at 114, 280 F.2d at 662 (excess profits tax redetermination); Olson Rug Co. v. NLRB, supra, at 662 (discover for use in defense against contempt proceedings); O'Keefe v. Boeing Co., 38 F.R.D. 329, 336 (SDNY 1965) (private tort action; Air Force Investigation Reports); Rosee v. Board of Trade, 36 F.R.D. 684, 687-688 (ND Ill.1965); United States v. Cotton Valley Operators Comm., supra, (civil antitrust suit). Cf. United States v. Procter & Gamble Co., 5 F.R.D. 485, 492 (NJ 1960) (criminal antitrust prosecution). See Wigmore § 2379, p. 812.
In Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. v. United States, 141 Ct.Cl. 38, 157 F.Supp. 939 (1958), where in camera inspection of a document was refused because of plaintiff's failure to make a definite showing of necessity, id. at 50, 157 F.Supp. at 947, the "objective facts" contained in the disputed document were "otherwise available." Id. at 489, 157 F.Supp. at 946.
See, e.g., Soucie v. David, 145 U.S.App.D.C. 144, 448 F.2d 1067 (1971); Grumman Aircraft Eng. Corp. v. Renegotiation Bd., 138 U.S.App.D.C. 147, 151, 425 F.2d 578, 582 (1970); Bristol-Myers Co. v. FTC, 138 U.S.App.D.C. 22, 424 F.2d 935 (1970); International Paper Co. v. FPC, 438 F.2d 1349, 1358-1359 CA2), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 827 (1971); General Services Admin. v. Benson, 415 F.2d 878 (CA9 1969), aff'g 289 F.Supp. 590 (WD Wash.1968; Long Island R. Co. v. United States, 318 F.Supp. 490, 499 n. 9 (EDNY 1970); Consumers Union v. Veterans Admin., 301 F.Supp. 796 (SDNY 1969), appeal dismissed as moot, 436 F.2d 1363 (CA2 1971); Olsen v. Camp, 328 F.Supp. 728, 731 (ED Mich.1970); Reliable Transfer Co. v. United States, 53 F.R.D. 24 (EDNY 1971).
The proposed Federal Rules of Evidence appear to recognize this construction of Exemption 5. Proposed Rule 509(a)(2)(A) defines "official information" to include "intra-governmental opinions or recommendations submitted for consideration in the performance of decisional or policymaking functions." Rule 509(c) further provides that, "[i]n the case of privilege claimed for official information, the court may require examination in camera of the information itself."
Hearings on S. 1160, S. 1336, S. 1758, and S. 1879 before the Subcommittee on Administrative Practice and Procedure of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 89th Cong., 1st Sess., 7 (1965) (hereinafter 1965 Senate Hearings). This exemption itself had been broadened during its course through the Senate in the 88th Congress. The exemption originally applied only to internal memoranda "relating to the consideration and disposition of adjudicatory and rulemaking matters." Section 3(c) of S. 1666, 88th Cong., 2d Sess. (1964), introduced in 110 Cong.Rec. 17086. That early formulation came under attack for not sufficiently protecting material dealing with general policy matters not directly related to adjudication or rulemaking. See Hearings on S. 1666 and S. 1663 before the Subcommittee on Administrative Practice and Procedure of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 88th Cong., 1st Sess., 202-203. 247 (1963).
"Few records would be entirely devoid of factual data, thus leaving papers on law and policy relatively unprotected. Staff working papers and reports prepared for use within the agency of the executive branch would not be protected by the proposed exemptions."
"Under this provision, internal memorandums dealing with mixed questions of fact, law and policy could well become public information."
Tr of Oral Arg. 23.
This case presents no constitutional claims, and no issues regarding the nature or scope of "Executive privilege." It involves no effort to invoke judicial power to require any documents to be reclassified under the mandate of the new Executive Order 11652. The case before us involves only the meaning of two exemptive provisions of the so-called Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552.
My Brother DOUGLAS says that the Court makes a "shambles" of the announced purpose of that Act. But it is Congress, not the Court, that, in § 552(b)(1), has ordained unquestioning deference to the Executive's use of the "secret" stamp. As the opinion of the Court demonstrates, the language of the exemption, confirmed by its legislative history, plainly withholds from disclosure matters "specifically required by Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of the national defense or foreign policy." In short, once a federal court has determined that the Executive has imposed that requirement, it may go no further under the Act.
by the people or evaluated by the Congress. And with the people and their representatives reduced to a state of ignorance, the democratic process is paralyzed.
But the Court's opinion demonstrates that Congress has conspicuously failed to attack the problem that my Brother DOUGLAS discusses. Instead, it has built into the Freedom of Information Act an exemption that provides no means to question an Executive decision to stamp a document "secret," however cynical, myopic, or even corrupt that decision might have been.
"Congress could certainly have provided that the Executive Branch adopt new procedures, or it could have established its own procedures subject only to whatever limitations the Executive privilege may be held to impose upon such congressional ordering."
But in enacting § 552(b)(1), Congress chose, instead, to decree blind acceptance of Executive fiat.
* Similarly rigid is § 552(b)(3), which forbids disclosure of materials that are "specifically exempted from disclosure by statute." Here, too, the only "matter" to be determined in a district court's de novo inquiry is the factual existence of such a statute, regardless of how unwise, self-protective, or inadvertent the enactment might be.
MR. JUSTICE BRENNAN, with whom MR. JUSTICE MARSHALL joins, concurring in part and dissenting in part.
Court to make an in camera inspection of documents claimed to be exempt from public disclosure under Exemption 5 of the Act. In addition, the Court concludes that, as an exception to this rule, the Government may, in at least some instances, attempt to avoid in camera inspection through use of detailed affidavits or oral testimony. I concur in those aspects of the Court's opinion. In my view, however, those procedures should also govern matters for which Exemption 1 is claimed, and I therefore dissent from the Court's holding to the contrary. I find nothing whatever on the face of the statute or in its legislative history that distinguishes the two Exemptions in this respect, and the Court suggests none. Rather, I agree with my Brother Douglas that the mandate of § 552(a)(3) -- "the court shall determine the matter de novo and the burden is on the agency to sustain its action" -- is the procedure that Congress prescribed for both Exemptions.
"3(b) Physically Connected Documents. The classification of a file or group of physically connected documents shall be at least as high as that of the most highly classified document therein. Documents separated from the file or group shall be handled in accordance with their individual defense classification."
"3(c) Multiple Classification. A document, product, or substance shall bear a classification at least as high as that of its highest classified component. The document, product, or substance shall bear only one over-all classification, notwithstanding that pages, paragraphs, sections, or components thereof bear different classifications."
"This court sees no basis for withholding on security grounds a document that, although separately unclassified, is regarded secret merely because it has been incorporated into a secret file. To the extent that our position in this respect is inconsistent with the above-quoted paragraph of Section 3 of Executive Order 10501, we deem it required by the terms and purpose of the [Freedom of Information Act], enacted subsequently to the Executive Order."
150 U.S.App.D.C. at 236, 464 F.2d at 745.
"The same reasoning applies to this provision as to the one dealing with physically connected documents. Secrecy by association is not favored. If the non-secret components are separable from the secret remainder and may be read separately without distortion of meaning, they too should be disclosed."
150 U.S.App.D.C. at 237, 464 F.2d at 746.
"in order that the ultimate decision as to the propriety of the agency's action is made by the court and prevent it from becoming meaningless judicial sanctioning of agency discretion."
"authority whenever it considers such action equitable and appropriate to enjoin the agency from withholding its records and to order the production of agency records improperly withheld."
H.R.Rep. No. 1497, p. 9. And to underscore its meaning, Congress rejected the traditional rule of deference to administrative determinations by "[p]lacing the burden of proof upon the agency" to justify the withholding. S.Rep. No. 813, p. 8; H.R.Rep. No. 1497, p. 9. The Court's rejection of the Court of Appeals' construction is inexplicable in the face of this overwhelming evidence of the congressional design.
The Court's reliance on isolated references to Executive Order 10501 in the congressional proceedings is erroneous and misleading. The Court points to a single passing reference to the Order in the House Report which even a superficial reading reveals to be merely suggestive of the kinds of information that the Executive Branch might classify. Nothing whatever in the Report even remotely implies that the Order was to be recognized as immunizing from public disclosure the entire file of documents merely because one or even a single paragraph of one has been stamped secret. The Court also calls to its support some comments out of context of Congressmen Moss and Gallagher on the House floor. But, on their face, these comments do no more than confirm that Exemption 1 was written with awareness of the existence of Executive Order 10501. Certainly, whatever significance may be attached to debating points in construing a statute, [Footnote 2/7] these comments hardly support the Court's conclusion that a classification pursuant to Executive Order 10501, without more, immunizes an entire document from disclosure under Exemption 1.
Executive Order 10501 was promulgated more than a decade before the Freedom of Information Act was debated in Congress. Yet no reference to the Order can be found in either the language of the Act or the Senate Report. Under these circumstances, it would seem odd, to say the least, to attribute to Congress an intent to incorporate "without reference" Executive Order 10501 into Exemption 1. Indeed, petitioners' concession that "physically connected documents," classified under § 3(b) of the Order, are not immune from judicial inspection serves only to reinforce the conclusion that the mere fact of classification under § 3(c) cannot immunize the identical documents from judicial scrutiny.
"The interests of the United States and its citizens are best served by making information regarding the affairs of Government readily available to the public. This concept of an informed citizenry is reflected in the Freedom of Information Act and in the current public information policies of the executive branch."
"The Executive order I have signed today is based upon . . .
a reexamination of the rationale underlying the Freedom of Information Act."
8 Presidential Documents 542 (Mar. 13, 1972).
"some official information and material . . . bears directly on the effectiveness of our national defense and the conduct of our foreign relations"
"[t]his official information or material, referred to as classified information or material in this order, is expressly exempted from public disclosure by Section 552(b)(1) of [the Freedom of Information Act]."
"Documents in General. Each classified document shall . . . to the extent practicable, be so marked as to indicate which portions are classified, at what level, and which portions are not classified in order to facilitate excerpting and other use."
"A major source of unnecessary classification under the old Executive order was the practical impossibility of discerning which portions of a classified document actually required classification. Incorporation of any material from a classified paper into another document usually resulted in the classification of the new document, and innocuous portions of neither paper could be released."
8 Presidential Documents 544 (Mar. 13, 1972) (emphasis added).
"essential in order that the ultimate decision as to the propriety of the agency's action is made by the court [to] prevent it from becoming meaningless judicial sanctioning of agency discretion."
The Court's interpretation of Exemption 1 as a complete bar to judicial inspection of matters claimed by the Executive to fall within it wholly frustrates the objective of the Freedom of Information Act. That interpretation makes a nullity of the Act's requirement of de novo judicial review. The judicial role becomes "meaningless judicial sanctioning of agency discretion," S.Rep. No. 813, p. 8; H.R.Rep. No. 1497, p. 9, the very result Congress sought to prevent by incorporating the de novo requirement.
Executive Order 10501 was revoked on March 8, 1972, and replaced with Executive Order 11652, 37 Fed.Reg. 5209, which became effective June 1, 1972.
"The policy of the Act requires that the . . . exemptions [be construed narrowly]." Soucie v. David, 145 U.S.App.D.C. 144, 157, 448 F.2d 1067, 1080 (1971). "A broad construction of the exemptions would be contrary to the express language of the Act." Wellford v. Hardin, 444 F.2d 21, 25 (CA4 1971).
Petition for Cert. 9 n. 4.
"This section does not authorize withholding of information or limit the availability of records to the public, except as specifically stated in this section. This section is not authority to withhold information from Congress."
"The accompanying Senate Report emphasizes that § 552(c) places a heavy burden on the Government to justify nondisclosure: "
"The purpose of [§ 552(c)] is to make it clear beyond doubt that all materials of the Government are to be made available to the public by publication or otherwise unless explicitly allowed to be kept secret by one of the exemptions in [§ 552(b)]."
S.Rep. No. 813, 89th Cong., 1st Sess., 10 (1965) (emphasis added). A commentator cogently argues that the "pull of the word specifically' [in § 552(c)] is toward emphasis on [the] statutory language" of the nine stated exemptions. The "specifically stated" Clause in § 552(c), he notes, "is often relevant in determining the proper interpretation of particular exemptions." K. Davis, Administrative Law § 3A.15, p. 142 (Supp. 1970). See also Davis, The Information Act: A Preliminary Analysis, 34 U.Chi.L.Rev. 761 (1967).
For a detailed study of the Freedom of Information Act and its background, see Note, Comments on Proposed Amendments to Section 3 of the Administrative Procedure Act: The Freedom of Information Bill, 40 Notre Dame Law. 417 (1965).
See Developments in the Law -- The National Security Interest and Civil Liberties, 85 Harv.L.Rev. 1130, 1224-1225 (1972).
"[G]iven the requirement that a file or document is generally classified at the highest level of classification of any information enclosed, it will often be the case that a classified file will contain information that could be released separately to the public. Because it is not specifically required by Executive order to be kept secret, such information is not privileged under the Information Act. To ensure that an overall classification is not being used to protect unprivileged papers, a reviewing court should inspect the documents sought by a litigant."
Developments in the Law, supra, n. 5, at 1223.
See Schwegmann Bros. v. Calvert Distillers Corp., 341 U. S. 384, 341 U. S. 395, 341 U. S. 397 (1951) (Jackson. J., concurring) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting).
"[I]n view of the legislative purpose to make it easier for private citizens to secure Government information, it seems most unlikely that [the Act] was intended to foreclose an (a)(3) judicial review of the circumstances of exemption. Rather, it would seem that [subsection] (b) was intended to specify the basis for withholding under (a)(3) and that judicial review de novo with the burden of proof on the agency should be had as to whether the conditions of exemption in truth exist."
The starting point of a decision usually indicates the result. My starting point is what I believe to be the philosophy of Congress expressed in the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552.
"The generation that made the nation thought secrecy in government one of the instruments of Old World tyranny and committed itself to the principle that a democracy cannot function unless the people are permitted to know what their government is up to. Now almost everything that the Pentagon and the CIA do is shrouded in secrecy. Not only are the American people not permitted to know what they are up to, but even the Congress and, one suspects, the President [witness the 'unauthorized' bombing of the North last fall and winter] are kept in darkness."
The New York Review of Books, Oct. 5, 1972, p. 7.
"to the extent practicable, be so marked as to indicate which portions are classified, at what level, and which portions are not classified in order to facilitate excerpting and other use."
§ 4(A). And it goes on to say: "Material containing references to classified materials, which references do not reveal classified information, shall not be classified." Ibid.
"jurisdiction to enjoin the agency from withholding agency records and to order the production of any agency records improperly withheld from the complainant."
Section 552(a)(3) goes on to prescribe the procedure to be employed by the District Court. It says "the court shall determine the matter de novo and the burden is on the agency to sustain its action."
to direct the agency in question to go through the suppressed document and make the portion-by-portion classification to facilitate the excerpting as required by the Executive Order. Section 552(a)(3) means also that the District Court may in its discretion collaborate with the agency to make certain that the congressional policy of disclosure is effectuated.
"This section does not apply to matters that are -- (1) specifically required by Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of the national defense or foreign policy."
This exemption was described in the House Report as covering "any internal memorandums which would routinely be disclosed to a private party through the discovery process in litigation with the agency." H.R.Rep. No. 1497, 89th Cong., 2d Sess., 10. It is clear from the legislative history that, while opinions and staff advice are exempt, factual matters are not. Ibid.; S.Rep. No. 813, 89th Cong., 1st Sess., 9. And the courts have uniformly agreed on that construction of the Act. See Soucie v. David, 145 U.S.App.D.C. 144, 448 F.2d 1067; Grumman Aircraft Eng. Corp. v. Renegotiation Bd., 138 U.S.App.D.C.
147, 425 F.2d 578; Long Island R. Co. v. United States, 318 F.Supp. 490; Consumers Union v. Veterans Admin., 301 F.Supp. 796.
Facts and opinions may, as the Court of Appeals noted, be "inextricably intertwined with policymaking processes" in some cases. In such an event, secrecy prevails. Yet, where facts and opinions can be separated, the Act allows the full light of publicity to be placed on the facts.
"This section does not authorize withholding of information or limit the availability of records to the public, except as specifically stated in this section."
Disclosure, rather than secrecy, is the rule, save for the specific exceptions in subsection (b).
The Government seeks to escape from the Act by making the Government stamp of "Top Secret" or "Secret" a barrier to the performance of the District Court's functions under § 552(a)(3) of the Act. The majority makes the stamp sacrosanct, thereby immunizing stamped documents from judicial scrutiny, whether or not factual information contained in the document is, in fact, colorably related to interests of the national defense or foreign policy. Yet anyone who has ever been in the Executive Branch knows how convenient the "Top Secret" or "Secret" stamp is, how easy it is to use, and how it covers, perhaps for decades, the footprints of a nervous bureaucrat or a wary executive.
which in '99 1/2%' of the cases, would present no danger to national security. To refuse to publish 'classified' reports would at times relegate a publisher to distributing only the press releases of Government or remaining silent; if it printed only the press releases or 'leaks,' it would become an arm of officialdom, not its critic. Rather, in my view, when a publisher obtains a classified document, he should be free to print it without fear of retribution unless it contains material directly bearing on future, sensitive planning of the Government."
The Government is aghast at a federal judge's even looking at the secret files and views with disdain the prospect of responsible judicial action in the area. It suggests that judges have no business declassifying "secrets," that judges are not familiar with the stuff with which these "Top Secret" or "Secret" documents deal.
That is to misconceive and distort the judicial function under § 552(a)(3) of the Act. The Court of Appeals never dreamed that the trial judge would declassify documents. His first task would be to determine whether nonsecret material was a mere appendage to a "Secret" or "Top Secret" file. His second task would be to determine whether under normal discovery procedures contained in Fed.Rule Civ.Proc. 26, factual material in these "Secret" or "Top Secret" materials is detached from the "Secret," and would, therefore, be available to litigants confronting the agency in ordinary lawsuits.
to a Farce or a Tragedy, or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: and a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. [Footnote 3/2]"
"(1) specifically required by Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of the national defense or foreign policy;"
"(3) specifically exempted from disclosure by statute;"
"(7) investigatory files compiled for law enforcement purposes except to the extent available by law to a party other than an agency;"
"(8) contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of an agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions; or "
"(c) This section does not authorize withholding of information or limit the availability of records to the public, except as specifically stated in this section. This section is not authority to withhold information from Congress."
The bureaucrat who uses the "secret" stamp obviously does not have the final say as to what "memorandums or letters" would be available by law under Exemption 5, for § 552(a)(3) gives the District Court authority, where agency records are alleged to be "improperly withheld," to "determine the matter de novo," the "burden" being on the agency "to sustain its action." Hence, § 552(b)(5), behind which the executive agency seeks refuge here, establishes a policy which is served by the fact/opinion distinction long established in federal discovery. The question is whether a private party would routinely be entitled to disclosure through discovery of some or all of the material sought to be excerpted. When the Court answers that no such inquiry can be made under § 552(b)(1), it makes a shambles of the disclosure mechanism which Congress tried to create. To make obvious the interplay of the nine exemptions listed in § 552(b), as well as § 552(c), I have attached them as an Appendix to this dissent.
Letter to W. T. Barry, Aug. 4, 1822, 9 The Writings of James Madison 103 (Hunt ed.1910).

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