Opinion ID: 363564
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Administrative and District Court Rulings.

Text: 3 Cox, in a letter to the FBI, dated April 24, 1975, requested copies of the two manuals in question, one labeled the FBI Manual of Rules and Regulations (one volume), and the other entitled FBI Manual of Instructions (four volumes). 4 Following extended administrative consideration and the issuance of guidelines for processing Cox's request by the Attorney General's office, the FBI voluntarily released to Cox portions of the four-volume Manual of Instructions. The FBI refused to disclose other portions, relying upon FOIA exemptions (b)(1), (b)(2), and (b)(7). 4 The FBI also refused to release the one-volume Manual of Rules and Regulations, which it deemed exempt under exemption (b)(2), as relating solely to the internal rules and practices of an agency. 5 The district court agreed with the Government that the entire Manual of Rules and Regulations is exempt from mandatory disclosure, stating: 6 Having received the Affidavit and Manual In camera and reviewed them In camera, the Court concludes that plaintiff (Cox) is not entitled to access to the FBI Manual of Rules and Regulations. With the exception of a few citations and brief discussions of federal statutes, which already are available to plaintiff in the United States Code, the entire Manual of Rules and Regulations sets forth internal personnel rules and practices of the FBI. Accordingly, the exemption provided in 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(2) for documents or materials related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency, applies uniformly to the entire Manual of Rules and Regulations. The agency therefore is justified in withholding from plaintiff the entire manual, and plaintiff's motion for injunctive relief with respect to the FBI Manual of Rules and Regulations is hereby denied. 7 As to the four-volume Manual of Instructions, the district court, after In camera examination of the withheld portions of the manual and explanatory affidavits submitted by the FBI, sustained the Government's assertion that designated portions of the withheld materials fall within FOIA exemption (b)(1) as matters specifically (required) by Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy. 5 The district court also determined that certain portions of the Manual of Instructions, designated in the Government's In camera submissions as housekeeping matters, fall within exemption (b)(2), as purely internal, administrative rules having no effect on the public. Finally, the district court held that exemption (b)(2) also applied to certain other sections of this manual designated as relating to FBI investigative techniques and procedures, the disclosure of which would impede the agency in its efforts to carry out its law enforcement responsibilities. 8 In net effect, the district court's rulings sustained the Government's withholding of all materials not voluntarily released to Cox upon his request. 9