ACLU v. CIA
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 22 media organizations filed an amicus brief in support of the ACLU in ACLU v. CIA, a case before the Second Circuit regarding FOIA Exemptions 1 and 3. The ACLU filed a FOIA request for several documents regarding the government’s “detention and interrogation” program. The government claimed that a particular report was exempt from disclosure under Exemptions 1 and 3, claiming that its release would harm national security. The district court in an in camera, ex parte review ruled against the CIA’s FOIA Exemptions 1 and 3 assertions on certain parts of the document, and ordered a partial disclosure. The CIA appealed, arguing that the district court should have deferred to its judgment. RCFP’s amicus brief argues that the district court’s review of the document is exactly what Congress had in mind, and that complete deference to the government’s assertion of exemptions under FOIA is improper.