John Doe Agency v. John Doe Corp.

1989-12-11

Headline: Court broadens FOIA law-enforcement exemption, allowing agencies to withhold records later gathered for investigations and making it harder for companies and the public to obtain certain government documents.

Holding: The Court held that records need only be "compiled for law enforcement purposes" when the FOIA response is made, so materials originally created for other uses can become exempt if later assembled for an investigation.

Real World Impact:

Allows agencies to withhold records later assembled for investigations even if originally created for other purposes.
Makes it harder for requesters to obtain preexisting government records once gathered for probes.
Shifts timing disputes about compilation to lower courts on remand.

Topics: freedom of information, law enforcement records, government transparency, defense contractor audits

Summary

Background

A private defense contractor asked for documents that related to a 1978 audit exchange with the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) about roughly $4.7 million in costs. Years later a federal prosecutor opened a criminal investigation and a grand jury subpoenaed related records. The contractor filed FOIA requests with the DCAA and then with the FBI after the DCAA denied the request and transferred the files to the FBI. The District Court inspected materials in camera and refused to order disclosure; the Second Circuit reversed.

Reasoning

The central question was whether Exemption 7’s phrase “compiled for law enforcement purposes” requires that records have been created originally for law enforcement. The Court read the statute’s plain language to allow that records assembled or gathered at the time a FOIA response is made can be “compiled” for law enforcement even if they were produced earlier for another purpose. The Court emphasized the agency’s burden to prove both compilation for law enforcement and one of the listed harms, reversed the Court of Appeals, and sent the case back for the lower courts to apply the correct standard.

Real world impact

This ruling means agencies may claim the law-enforcement FOIA exemption when preexisting government records are later gathered into an investigative file. That can limit access for businesses, journalists, and the public to records that were once nonexempt. The decision is not a final ruling that these specific documents are exempt; the lower courts must determine whether the exemption actually applies on remand.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Brennan agreed but limited the question. Justice Stevens argued the Government had not met its burden and that a mere transfer did not make the records a compilation; Justice Scalia warned the ruling invites potential abuse and favored a narrower reading.