en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act_(United_States)
1 correction found
In 1976, as part of the Government in the Sunshine Act, Exemption 3 of the FOIA was amended so that several exemptions were specified: 1. Information relating to national defense, 2. Related solely to internal personnel rules and practices, 3. Related to accusing a person of a crime, 4. Related to information where disclosure would constitute a breach of privacy, 5. Related to investigatory records where the information would harm the proceedings, 6. Related to information which would lead to financial speculation or endanger the stability of any financial institution, and 7. Related to the agency's participation in legal proceedings.
This is not what the 1976 Sunshine Act did to FOIA Exemption 3. The Sunshine Act narrowed Exemption 3 to cover information withheld by other statutes meeting specific criteria; the seven-item list here instead describes Sunshine Act meeting-closure categories, not FOIA Exemption 3.
Full reasoning
The 1976 Government in the Sunshine Act amended FOIA Exemption 3 by replacing it with language covering material "specifically exempted from disclosure by statute" when the other statute either leaves no discretion or sets particular criteria/types of matters for withholding. It did not rewrite Exemption 3 into the seven topical categories listed here.
The statute itself shows this directly: Section 5(b) of Public Law 94-409 amends 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(3) to the familiar "specifically exempted from disclosure by statute" language. A later Senate report summarizing FOIA's history likewise explains that the 1976 change was a limited amendment prompted by Administrator, FAA v. Robertson, and that it modified Exemption 3 to require a qualifying withholding statute.
The numbered items in the article are instead drawn from the Government in the Sunshine Act's separate meeting-closure provisions in 5 U.S.C. § 552b(c). Those are Sunshine Act exemptions for closing certain agency meetings, not the text of FOIA Exemption 3. The Sunshine Act provisions also contain 10 categories, not the 7 listed here.
So this passage conflates two different statutory schemes: FOIA Exemption 3 and the Sunshine Act's meeting exemptions.
2 sources
- Government Sunshine Act, Public Law 94-409
Section 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: '(3) specifically exempted from disclosure by statute ... (A) requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue, or (B) establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld;'.
- Senate Report 104-272, Electronic Freedom of Information Improvement Act of 1996
In 1976, when adopting another open government law—the Government in the Sunshine Act—Congress once again amended the FOIA. The change was a limited one ... The FOIA amendment contained in the Sunshine Act modified the third exemption to limit its application to information specifically excepted from disclosure by statutes mandating protection 'in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue' or establishing particular criteria or referring to particular types of information to be withheld.