Justices Must Require Release of Species Records, Group Says

The federal government can’t keep Endangered Species Act documents under wraps simply by labeling them drafts, the Sierra Club told the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a brief filed Monday, the environmental group urged the justices to uphold a lower court’s decision ordering the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to hand over the records under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Supreme Court is set to review the case in its next term, which starts in October. The outcome will be consequential for endangered species-related document requests, and for FOIA law more broadly.

The agencies say ...