Opinion ID: 2308051
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Facts and Procedural History Relevant to the Government's Appeal

Text: Among the documents disclosed by the Government are four memoranda authored by the OLC between August 1, 2002 and May 30, 2005, analyzing legal questions with respect to the application of EITs to detainees held in CIA custody abroad. The Government initially withheld these memoranda in full, but subsequently, on April 16, 2009, released unclassified versions of the memoranda with limited redactions. The classified information at issue in the Government's appeal is discussed in two of these memoranda, dated May 10, 2005 and May 30, 2005, respectively. The Government redacted references to the classified informationalong with other information not relevant to this appealpursuant to FOIA Exemptions 1 and 3 on the basis that records related to intelligence methods, intelligence activities, and CIA functions are exempt from disclosure. [1] The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment with regard to these redactions from the OLC memoranda. The district court reviewed the unredacted OLC memoranda in a series of ex parte, in camera sessions. It also reviewed several declarations from high-level executive branch officials supporting the Government's withholding of the redacted information. At the first session, the district court issued a preliminary ruling that all but one of the references to the classified information must be disclosed, without explaining why it treated that sole reference differently. With respect to the other references, the district court held that publicly disclosing that information would reveal not an intelligence method but only a source of the CIA's authority. The district court also found that the references are so general in nature that their disclosure would not compromise national security. The district court nevertheless permitted the Government to submit additional declarations justifying its position that the information was exempt from disclosure. During a subsequent in camera session, the district court reaffirmed its preliminary ruling and explained that it viewed the classified information as a source of authority for interrogation rather than a method of interrogation. As a compromise, however, the district court offered to allow the Government to replace references to the classified information with alternative language meant to preserve the meaning of the text. The district court acknowledged the national security concerns potentially raised by the disclosure of some of the classified information, but nevertheless ordered that the Government either disclose the information or comply with the court's proposed compromise. The district court also ordered that references to the classified information in the transcript of the first ex parte, in camera proceeding be disclosed or otherwise released in accordance with the compromise. The district court memorialized its oral ruling in a December 29, 2009 order. The Government now appeals from that order.