Justices Fret Over FOIA Evasion but Debate Sierra Club Standard

By Ellen M. Gilmer, Bloomberg Law, Nov. 2, 2020

• Broad coalition back environmentalists in case

• Dispute involves government records under FOIA

The U.S. Supreme Court seemed wary Monday of limiting government disclosure requirements, but unsure where to draw the line in a complex clash over Endangered Species Act records.

The case, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club, has big implications for government transparency, in environmental contexts and beyond. It attracted even broader interest as newly confirmed Justice Amy Coney Barrett sat for oral argument for the first time.

Hearing the case remotely, Barrett and her colleagues pressed both sides to explain what legal test the high court should apply when deciding whether draft documents are subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. The dispute centers on federal wildlife agencies’ draft opinions that a proposed EPA regulation would harm endangered species.

Read more here.

A transcript of the oral argument is here.