FAA Administrator v. Robertson : Government Victory
Historical Context
"The respondent in this case, Mr. Robertson, is connected with the Center for the Study of Responsive Law and is director of the Aviation Consumer Action...Project. In the summer of 1970, this group was conducting a study of airline safety and they [filed a FOIA request for] the Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] to make available to them all of the SWAP [Systems Worthiness Analysis Program] Reports for 1969." "Section 1104 of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 permits the FAA Administrator, upon receiving an objection to public disclosure of information in a report, to withhold disclosure when, in his judgment, it would adversely affect the objecting party's interest and is not required in the public's interest. The Administrator declined to make the reports available upon receiving an objection from the Air Transport Association, which claimed that confidentiality was necessary to the effectiveness of the program." |
"The SWAP Program operates with the understanding between the airlines and the FAA that the information will not be disclosed to the public." "If public disclosure of the SWAP reports were made, the interest of aviation safety would be endangered of being subordinated in some degree to legal considerations and the presentation of information to the FAA." "...The FAA denied reconsideration of the respondent's request for the SWAP Reports [and] the suit was brought..." |
The FAA claimed the following exemptions justified nondisclosure:
Click on an image to read the exemption:
The Supreme Court's Decision
"Over-sight and regulation of air travel safety is the responsibility of the FAA." "Exemption 3 contains no 'built-in' standard as do some of the exemptions under the FOIA, and the language is sufficiently ambiguous to require resort to the legislative history. That history reveals that Congress was 'aware of the necessity to deal expressly with inconsistent laws,' and, as indicated in its committee report, did not intend, in enacting the FOIA, to modify the numerous statutes 'which restrict public access to specific Government records.'...The broad discretion vested by Congress in the FAA under § 1104 to withhold information from the public is not necessarily inconsistent with Congress' intent in enacting the FOIA..." |
"Held: The SWAP Reports are exempt from public disclosure under Exemption 3 of the FOIA as being 'specifically exempted from disclosure by statute.'"
-FAA Administrator v. Robertson, 422 U.S. 255 (1975)
Decided June 24, 1975
It was ruled that the government had the right and responsibility to withhold the SWAP Reports under Exemption 3.
Effects: Amending Exemption 3
To dispel the ambiguity of Exemption 3 revealed through this case, Congress amended it in 1976 to read as follows:
The amended Exemption 3 enhanced citizens' rights and gave more responsibilities to agencies.