Exemptions, and why most denials cite them

Exemptions, and why most denials cite them

Disclosure is the default and exemptions are the exception, but the exceptions are broad. Federal FOIA sets out nine, covering classified national security material, internal personnel rules, information exempted by other statutes, trade secrets, privileged inter-agency deliberation, personal privacy, law enforcement records, bank supervision, and geological data on wells.

The deliberative-process exemption is the one requesters underestimate. It shields pre-decisional internal discussion, which means the memo explaining why a decision was made is frequently withheld while the decision itself is released. An agency must still segregate and release the non-exempt portions of a document rather than withholding it whole.