Sack v. United States Department of Defense
823 F.3d 687, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 9225, 422 U.S. App. D.C. 371 (2016)
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Rule of Law:
Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a student who makes a request to further their coursework or other school-sponsored activities is considered part of an 'educational institution' and is therefore eligible for reduced processing fees.
Facts:
- Kathryn Sack was a Ph.D. student in Politics at the University of Virginia writing her dissertation on polygraph bias.
- Sack submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the Department of Defense (DOD) seeking reports and documents about its use of polygraph examinations.
- Sack informed the DOD that she intended to use the requested information for her dissertation.
- Sack asked the DOD to categorize her as an 'educational-institution requester' to qualify for reduced processing fees.
- For one batch of requests, the DOD refused to grant her this status and required her to pay approximately $900 in search fees.
- For another batch of requests, the DOD withheld responsive documents, claiming they were exempt from disclosure.
Procedural Posture:
- Kathryn Sack filed a lawsuit against the Department of Defense in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
- Sack challenged the Department's refusal to classify her as an educational-institution requester and its decision to withhold documents under FOIA Exemption 7(E).
- The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of the Department of Defense, ruling that Sack did not qualify for reduced fees and that the documents were properly withheld.
- Sack, as appellant, appealed the District Court's judgment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, with the Department of Defense as appellee.
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Issue:
Does a student who makes a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to further coursework or other school-sponsored activities qualify as a requester from an 'educational institution' eligible for reduced fees under 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II)?
Opinions:
Majority - Kavanaugh, Circuit Judge
Yes. A student who makes a FOIA request to further their coursework or other school-sponsored activities qualifies as a requester from an 'educational institution' eligible for reduced fees. The statutory term 'educational institution' does not draw a distinction between teachers and students, and common definitions of 'school' encompass both. The government has long considered teachers eligible for reduced fees, and there is no logical or textual basis in the statute to exclude students who are also conducting scholarly research as part of their role at the institution. An Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guideline suggesting students do not qualify is inconsistent with the statute and unpersuasive, as it provides no meaningful distinction between a professor's research and a student's research for coursework. To qualify, a requester must demonstrate the information is sought in connection with their role at the institution, not for personal or commercial use. The court separately affirmed the District Court's ruling that certain polygraph reports were properly withheld under FOIA Exemption 7(E), as their disclosure would reveal law enforcement techniques and could risk circumvention of the law.
Analysis:
This decision establishes a significant precedent by clarifying that students qualify for reduced FOIA fees, a question no federal appellate court had previously decided in a published opinion. By rejecting the government's narrow interpretation and invalidating a contrary OMB guideline, the ruling lowers a financial barrier for student journalists and academic researchers using FOIA. This promotes broader access to government information for scholarly purposes and signals that agencies cannot arbitrarily distinguish between different members of an educational institution when applying FOIA's fee structure. The decision reinforces a textualist reading of the statute over agency guidance that is inconsistent with the statutory language and purpose.
