Everything online journalists need to protect their legal rights. This free resource culls from all Reporters Committee resources and includes exclusive content on digital media law issues.
Digital Journalist's Legal Guide
Center for International Environmental Law v. U.S. Office of Trade Representative
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The Center for International Environmental Law brought suit under the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") seeking the disclosure of government records relating to a failed round of trade negotiations. The government withheld a document under FOIA's Exemption 1, which permits federal agencies to withhold information that has been properly classified. The trial court ordered the release of the document, holding that the government had failed to show that releasing the document would cause harm to national security or foreign policy interests. The government appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., arguing in part that the trial court did not have the authority to second-guess the agency's classification decision. The Reporters Committee, along with 32 other media organizations, argued in its brief that Congress gave federal courts the explicit power to review government classification claims under FOIA's Exemption 1 when it amended the law in 1974. Moreover, the process requiring courts to question the propriety of agency claims regarding national security harm is an important structural check against overzealous classification determinations.