Records Access Case Law
United States Supreme Court

Houchins, Sheriff of the County of Alameda, California v. KQED, INC., et al.

The District Court preliminary enjoined petitioner from denying KQED news personnel from reasonable access to the jail. The United States Supreme Court justices reversed and remanded that neither the First Amendment nor the Fourteenth Amendment provides a right of access to government information [438 U.S. 1, 2] or sources of information within the government’s control. 438 U.S. 1(1978).

 

National Archives and Records Administration v. Favish et al.

This is considered a major U.S. Supreme Court FOIA Case. It is encompasses the personal privacy rights of a deceased individual as well as the related privacy rights of his or her surviving family members. When the public interest in a FOIA request reflects an attempt to show that government officials acted improperly in performing their duties, the requester must produce evidence of such impropriety sufficient to convince a reasonable person in order to overcome the personal privacy rights. 541 U.S. 157 (2004).