When researching case law regarding FOIA, especially a state’s FOIA rather than federal, you are likely not going to want to limit your search to binding precedent. You are going to want to look at a range of jurisdictions to learn how those courts have interpreted similar provisions to the provision you are concerned with.
You are going to always want to to start your case law research with the case law annotations in the annotated code. If you haven’t done your statutory research yet, go back and do that. Then come back here for guidance on expanding your research from the case annotations as well as using the major legal research tools to find additional cases.
Researching from Case Annotations in Lexis Advance
For the purposes of this guide, we will focus on the District of Columbia Freedom of Information Act, specifically section 204, which is codified at D.C. Official Code § 2-534. Select a relevant case note and click on the link to the case. For the purposes of illustration, we will select Barry v. Washington Post Co., 529 A.2d 319, 1987 D.C. App. LEXIS 413 (D.C. 1987), from this case note:
From here, you have multiple options. 1. You can select relevant topics from the headnotes. Click on the narrowest term of interest in a headnote and select “get documents.” 2. You can select “Shepardize-Narrow by this Headnote” at the end of a relevant headnote.
Researching from Case Annotations in WestlawNext
In WestlawNext, once you’ve found the Code section you’re looking for, select the “Notes of Decisions” tab. From the list of decisions, select a relevant decision and follow the link either to the case or to the West headnote.
Researching from Key Numbers
The West Key number system is another effective way to find resources. Begin with 326, Records. k30-k68 are the key numbers for Public Access to records.
Seminal Cases
Although each state will have its own major FOIA cases, some federal decisions may be important for interpretation of state laws. The following cases are generally recognized among the major decisions:
- Kissinger v. Reporters Committee, 445 U.S. 136 (1980) (regarding agency records that are no longer in the custody of the agency)
- Department of Justice v. Tax Analysts, 492 U.S. 136 (1989) (an agency is required to provide records requested even though the records can be obtained through other means)
- Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820, 157 U.S.App.D.C. 340 (D.C. Cir. 1973) (an agency must provide an index of the records it withholds, including which exemption it claims for each record)