Department of Justice Guide to the Freedom of Information Act

Introduction (posted February 14, 2020)

• Structure of the FOIA (page 2)
• History of the FOIA (page 6)

Proactive Disclosures (posted August 4, 2020)

• Subsection (a)(1) - Federal Register Publication (page 1)
• Subsection (a)(2) - Public Inspection in an Electronic Format (page 2)
• Electronic Availability of Proactive Disclosures (page 6)
• Indexing Proactive Disclosures (page 7)

Procedural Requirements (posted August 20, 2021)

• OPEN Government Act (page 1)
• FOIA Improvement Act (page 3)
• Entities Subject to the FOIA (page 5)
• “Agency Records” (page 11)
• FOIA Requesters (page 19)
• Proper FOIA Requests (page 25)
• Time Limits (page 34)
• Expedited Processing (page 39)
• Searching for Responsive Records (page 42)
• “Reasonably Segregable” Obligation (page 62)
• Consultations and Referrals (page 68)
• Responding to FOIA Requests (page 72)
• Administrative Appeals (page 79)

Fees and Fee Waivers (posted September 16, 2020)

• Introduction (page 1)
• Fees (page 1)
• Requester Categories (page 2)
• Types of Fees (page 9)
• Fee Restrictions (page 13)
• Fee Waivers (page 21)

Exemption 1 (posted March 4, 2021)

• Executive Order 13,526 (page 2)
• Compilation of Information (page 10)
• Reclassification of Information (page 12)
• Classifying Information After Receiving a FOIA Request (page 13)
• Proper National Security Markings (page 14)
• Duration of Classification and Declassification (page 16)
• Applicability of Successive Executive Orders (page 17)
• Deference to Agency Judgment (page 18)
• In Camera Submissions and Adequate Public Record (page 23)
• Glomar Response (page 24)
• Waiver of Exemption 1 Protection (page 27)
• Exclusion Considerations (page 36)

Exemption 2 (posted June 12, 2023)

• Historical Interpretation of Exemption 2 (page 1)
• The Supreme Court’s Decision in Milner v. Department of the Navy (page 5)
• Exemption 2’s Three-Part Test (page 8)
• Exemption 2 Since Milner (page 9)

Exemption 3 (posted June 2, 2021)

• Initial Considerations (page 2)
• Statutes Not Delineated as Subpart (A)(i) (Requiring Withholding) or Subpart (A)(ii) (Establishing Criteria or Designating Matters to be Withheld) (page 9)
• Subpart (A)(i): Statutes Requiring Withholding (page 15)
• Subpart (A)(ii): Statutes Establishing Criteria for Withholding or Referring to Types of Matters to be Withheld (page 24)
• Statutes Both Requiring Withholding and Establishing Criteria or Delineating Particular Matters to be Withheld (page 42)
• Tax Return Information (page 45)
• FOIA-Specific Nondisclosure Statutes (page 52)
• Nondisclosure Results Under Appropriations Acts (page 56)
• "Operational Files" Provisions (page 58)
• Statutes Found Not to Qualify Under Exemption 3 (page 60)

Exemption 4 (posted December 16, 2021)

• Trade Secrets (page 1)
• Commercial or Financial Information (page 4)
• Obtained from a "Person" (page 9)
• "Confidential" Information (page 12)
• Privileged Information (page 18)
• Interrelation with the Trade Secrets Act (page 21)

Exemption 5 (posted March 13, 2023)

• "Inter-Agency or Intra-Agency" Threshold Requirement (page 3)
• Consultant Corollary (page 4)
• Common Interest (page 12)
• Deliberative Process Privilege (page 15)
• Predecisional (page 18)
• Deliberative (page 28)
• Applying Deliberative Process Privilege (page 37)
• Adoption and Incorporation (page 45)
• Attorney Work-Product Privilege (page 52)
• Attorney-Client Privilege (page 66)
• Other Privileges (page 72)
• Foreseeable Harm and Other Considerations (page 80)

Exemption 6 (updated August 19, 2022)

• Threshold: Personnel, Medical and Similar Files (page 4)
• Privacy Interest (page 6)
• Privacy Interest, Derivative Privacy Invasion (page 13)
• Privacy Interest, Government Correspondents (page 16)
• Privacy Interest, Federal Employees (page 19)
• Privacy Interest, Information in the Public Domain and Practical Obscurity (page 26)
• Privacy Interest, Corporations and Business Relations (page 33)
• Privacy Interest, Life Status (page 36)
• Privacy Interest, Public Figures (page 39)
• Privacy Interest, Privacy Assurances and Waivers (page 40)
• Privacy Interest, Interest in Disclosure (page 41)
• FOIA Public Interest (page 43)
• FOIA Public Interest, Assigning a Weight to the FOIA Public Interest (page 51)
• FOIA Public Interest, Nexus Between the Requested Information and the Public Interest (page 53)
• FOIA Public Interest, Derivative Use of the Information (page 59)
• FOIA Public Interest, Public Servant Accountability (page 63)
• FOIA Public Interest, Evidentiary Showing (page 68)
• Balancing a Privacy Interest in Nondisclosure Against a Public Interest in Release (page 73)
• Balancing a Privacy Interest in Nondisclosure Against a Public Interest in Release, Name and Home Address (page 78)
• Redacting Identifying Information (page 81)
• "Glomar" Responses (page 85)

Exemption 7 (posted January 27, 2022)

• Introduction (page 1)
• Records or Information (page 4)
• Compiled (Page 5)
• Law Enforcement Purposes (page 7)

Exemption 7(A) (posted March 22, 2022)

• Introduction (page 1)
• Two-Part Test (page 1)
• Duration (page 3)
• Types of Law Enforcement Proceedings (page 7)
• Related Proceedings (page 9)
• Generalized Showing of Harm (page 12)
• Types of Interference (page 13)
• Generic Categories (page 19)
• Deference (page 24)
• Time Frame for Determining Exemption 7(A) Applicability (page 25)
• Changes in Circumstances in Litigation When Exemption 7(A) No Longer Applies (page 26)
• Exclusion Considerations (page 28)

Exemption 7(B) (posted June 3, 2021)

Exemption 7(C) (posted March 29, 2022)

• Privacy Considerations (page 2)
• Public Interest (page 20)
• Balancing Process (page 29)
• The “Glomar” Response (page 35)

Exemption 7(D) (posted September 9, 2022)

• Introduction (page 1)
• The Confidentiality Analysis (page 6)
• Express Confidentiality (page 7)
• Implied Confidentiality (page 11)
• Scope of Protection (page 21)
• Waiver of Confidentiality (page 26)
• Exclusion Considerations (page 33)

Exemption 7(E) (posted October 27, 2022)

• Techniques and Procedures (page 1)
• Guidelines for Law Enforcement Investigations and Prosecutions (page 21)
• Homeland Security Records and Exemption 7(E) (page 26)

Exemption 7(F) (posted December 16, 2021)

Exemption 8 (posted August 26, 2022)

Exemption 9 (posted December 1, 2021)

Exclusions (posted June 3, 2022)

• The (c)(1) Exclusion (page 2)
• The (c)(2) Exclusion (page 7)
• The (c)(3) Exclusion (page 12)
• Procedural Considerations (page 14)

Waiver and Discretionary Disclosure (posted August 31, 2022)

• Waiver (page 1)
• Discretionary Disclosure (page 18)

Litigation Considerations 1 (posted February 27, 2024)

• Jurisdiction (page 1)
• Standing (page 8)
• Venue and Removal (page 11)
• Statute of Limitations (page 14)
• Pleadings (page 16)
• Relief (page 20)
• Preliminary Injunctions (page 25)
• Mootness and Other Grounds for Dismissal (page 27)
• “Policy or Practice” Claims (page 35)
• Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies (page 42)
• Constructive Exhaustion (page 46)
• “Open America” Stays of Proceedings (page 55)
• Discovery (page 61)

Litigation Considerations 2 (posted February 27, 2024)

• Summary Judgment (page 1)
• Standard of Review (page 6)
• Evidentiary Showing (page 8)
  •  Declarations (page 9)
  •  Adequacy of Search (page 12)
  •  Vaughn Index (page 27)
  •  Foreseeable Harm Showing (page 42)
  • “Reasonably Segregable” Showing (page 49)
• In Camera Inspection (page 56)
• Waiver of Exemptions in Litigation (page 62)
• Frivolous Lawsuits (page 67)
• Appointment of Counsel (page 68)
• Special Counsel Provision (page 69)
• Considerations on Appeal (page 70)

Attorney Fees (updated October 14, 2022)

• Threshold Issues (page 2)
• Eligibility (page 7)
• Entitlement (page 17)
• Timing of Attorney Fees Motions (page 31)
• Calculations (page 33)

Reverse FOIA (updated January 27, 2023)

• Standard of Review (page 6)
• Executive Order 12,600 (page 11)

Text of the Freedom of Information Act

Text of the Attorney General's Memorandum on the Freedom of Information Act