Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 24, 2019 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Decided
- June 24, 2019
- Term
- October Term 2018
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Gorsuch
- Issue area
- Privacy
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice GORSUCH delivered the opinion of the Court. Congress has instructed that the disclosure requirements of the Freedom of Information Act do "not apply" to "confidential" private-sector "commercial or financial information" in the government's possession. But when does information provided to a federal agency qualify as "confidential"? The Food Marketing Institute says it's enough if the owner keeps the information private rather than releasing it publicly. The government suggests that an agency's promise to keep information from disclosure may also suffice to render it confidential. But the courts below imposed a different requirement yet, holding that information can never be deemed confidential unless disclosing it is likely to result in "substantial competitive harm" to the business that provided it. Finding at least this "competitive harm" requirement inconsistent with the terms of the statute, we reverse. I This case began when Argus Leader, a South Dakota newspaper, filed a FOIA request for data collected by the United States Department of Agriculture. The USDA administers the national food-stamp program, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Argus Leader asked the USDA for the names and addresses of all retail stores that participate in SNAP and each store's annual SNAP redemption data from fiscal years 2005 to 2010, which we refer to as…
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