Supreme Court of the United States
Glen Scott Milner v. Department of the Navy
March 7, 2011179 L. Ed. 2d 268
Summary
The Supreme Court held that FOIA Exemption 2, which covers internal personnel rules and practices, applies only to human resources matters and does not extend to records whose disclosure might risk circumvention of the law. The Court reversed the Ninth Circuit’s judgment, which had upheld the Navy’s use of Exemption 2 to withhold explosive safety data, and remanded the case. Justice Breyer dissented, arguing for adherence to the long-standing Crooker interpretation, while Justice Alito concurred, noting the potential applicability of Exemption 7(F).