SCOTUS Rules Against Sierra Club in Environmental FOIA Case (2)

Federal agencies aren’t required to hand over draft documents related to the impacts of an EPA proposal on endangered species, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

A lower court misinterpreted the Freedom of Information Act when it mandated the disclosure of draft opinions that should have been protected by the law’s exemption for records from an agency’s “deliberative process,” the justices said in a 7-2 opinion by Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

The decision rejects arguments from the Sierra Club and its allies—a broad coalition of environmental, business, and media interests—who argued that a ruling for the government would allow agencies ...