Opinion ID: 752354
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Availability through Alternative Sources

Text: 5 Both parties on appeal contend that the district court erred when it decided not to address the applicability of the FOIA exemptions and instead withheld the information requested because it was already public information and available to appellant through a search of county records. J.A. at 7 (Order at 2); Appellant's Br. at 11-13; Appellee's Br. at 16-18. The parties are correct that this was an inappropriate basis for exemption under FOIA and that the district judge committed an error of law. In United States Dep't of Justice v. Tax Analysts, 492 U.S. 136, 109 S.Ct. 2841, 106 L.Ed.2d 112 (1989), the Supreme Court explicitly rejected the proposition that the requested information--certain district court opinions--was properly withheld under FOIA by the Tax Division of the Department of Justice because the information was already publicly available. See id. at 150, 109 S.Ct. at 2850-51. The government in Tax Analysts argued, among other things, that the structure of [FOIA] evinces Congress' desire to avoid redundant disclosures. Id. at 152, 109 S.Ct. at 2852. The Supreme Court rejected this argument, concluding that [a]n agency must disclose agency records to any person under § 552(a), 'unless they may be withheld pursuant to one of the nine enumerated exemptions listed in § 552(b).'  Id. at 150-51, 109 S.Ct. at 2851 (quoting United States Dep't of Justice v. Julian, 486 U.S. 1, 8, 108 S.Ct. 1606, 1611, 100 L.Ed.2d 1 (1988)). The Supreme Court further established that the exemptions are  'explicitly exclusive'  and that therefore agency records which do not fall within one of the [nine] exemptions are improperly withheld. Id. at 151, 109 S.Ct. at 2851 (quoting FAA Adm'r v. Robertson, 422 U.S. 255, 262, 95 S.Ct. 2140, 2146, 45 L.Ed.2d 164 (1975) (internal quotation marks omitted)).