## Facts

- Allan J. Favish submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking, among other materials, death-scene photographs of Vincent Foster, Jr., compiled during an independent counsel investigation.
- The Office of Independent Counsel’s records later came under the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
- NARA denied the request for the photographs under FOIA Exemption 7(C), which permits withholding law-enforcement records when disclosure could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
- Favish asserted the photographs were necessary to investigate an alleged government cover-up and argued that any privacy interest ended with Foster’s death, making surviving family interests irrelevant.
- Foster’s family objected to disclosure, citing the harm from public dissemination of graphic post-mortem images.

## Issues

1. Whether FOIA Exemption 7(C) protects surviving family members’ personal privacy interests in a close relative’s death-scene photographs.
2. What showing a FOIA requester must make to overcome an Exemption 7(C) privacy interest when the claimed public interest is exposing alleged government misconduct.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court unanimously held that Exemption 7(C) protects surviving family members’ personal privacy interests in death-scene images of a close relative.
- The Court held that when a requester relies on alleged government misconduct to justify disclosure, the requester must produce evidence that would warrant a reasonable person in believing that the alleged impropriety might have occurred.
- The Court concluded Favish’s submissions amounted to suspicion and did not satisfy the evidentiary burden.
- Balancing the substantial family privacy interest against the asserted public interest, the Court ruled the photographs must be withheld.
- The Court reversed the judgment ordering release and remanded with instructions to enter judgment for NARA.

## Legal Principles

- FOIA Exemption 7(C)’s “personal privacy” protection is not limited to the deceased individual depicted; it can extend to surviving family members affected by disclosure of death-scene images.
- Exemption 7(C) provides broader privacy protection than FOIA Exemption 6, reflected in its “could reasonably be expected to constitute” standard and the absence of the word “clearly.”
- In Exemption 7(C) balancing, a requester asserting a public interest in uncovering government wrongdoing must present evidence sufficient to warrant a reasonable belief that misconduct might have occurred; conjecture does not create a weighty public interest.
- Where the alleged public interest is speculative and the privacy harm is concrete, Exemption 7(C) requires withholding.

## Conclusion

The Court held that FOIA Exemption 7(C) protects surviving relatives from disclosure of death-scene images of a close family member and requires a requester alleging government misconduct to provide evidence that would lead a reasonable person to believe impropriety might have occurred; because that showing was not made, the photographs were properly withheld.


Nat’l Archives & Recs. Admin. v. Favish, 541 U.S. 157 (2004)