Guidance Issued on Exemption 2

Today we issued guidance to agencies addressing the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in Milner v. Department of the Navy, 131 S. Ct. 1259 (2011), on Exemption 2 of the FOIA.  In Milner, the Supreme Court overturned thirty years of established FOIA precedents and significantly narrowed the scope of Exemption 2.  OIP’s guidance contains a detailed discussion of the decision in Milner, as well as the scope of Exemption 2 both before and after it.  The guidance also delineates the new parameters of Exemption 2 and discusses possible alternatives for agencies to consider. This guidance, as well as previous guidance, can be found on the Guidance page of our site.