Court Opinion

ID: 9458747
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 21:00:33.962176+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:35:52.834911
License: Public Domain

WILLIAM E. MILLER, Circuit Judge
(concurring in part and dissenting in part).
Insofar as the majority opinion intimates a tentative view that the Freedom of Information Act places restrictions upon the discretionary jurisdiction and powers of a court sitting in equity, I find it necessary to dissent. In my concurring opinion in Tennessean Newspapers, Inc. v. Federal Housing Administration, 464 F.2d 657 (6th Cir. 1972). I found it unnecessary to decide whether a court may not in some situations under the Freedom of Information Act apply general equitable principles. It was my view then that “a strong argument can be made that courts do possess equitable powers under the Act.” I remain of that opinion. Yet as in the Tennessean Newspapers case, I do not believe that any discussion of this issue — even the intimation of a tentative view — is required to dispose of the present appeal. With this qualification, I concur in the majority opinion.