## Facts

- The Department of Justice (DOJ) Tax Division litigated most federal civil tax cases and received copies of district court tax opinions and final orders issued in those cases.
- The Tax Division copied these decisions for staff attorneys and placed the originals in official DOJ files.
- Tax Analysts, a private publisher, sought these opinions and final orders under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to publish and distribute them in print and electronic formats.
- After an initial request was denied, Tax Analysts temporarily withdrew its request in exchange for access to the Tax Division’s weekly case log.
- Tax Analysts later submitted renewed FOIA requests for copies of the opinions and orders identified in the weekly logs, citing delay and cost in obtaining copies from district court clerks.
- DOJ denied the renewed requests, arguing that the documents were not “improperly withheld” because they were available from the district courts.

## Issues

1. Whether copies of district court opinions and final orders obtained and maintained by DOJ in its Tax Division files are “agency records” under FOIA.
2. Whether DOJ “improperly withheld” such records by denying FOIA requests on the ground that identical documents were available from the issuing courts.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment requiring disclosure.
- The Court held the requested opinions and orders were “agency records” because DOJ obtained them and controlled them when the FOIA requests were made.
- The Court held DOJ “withheld” the records by denying access to materials within its possession and control.
- The withholding was “improper” because DOJ relied on no FOIA exemption; public availability from another source does not excuse nonproduction.

## Legal Principles

- A document is an “agency record” under FOIA when the agency (1) creates or obtains it and (2) controls it at the time of the FOIA request.
- FOIA contains no categorical exclusion for judicial opinions held by an executive agency.
- An agency withholds records under FOIA when it denies a request for materials in its possession and control, even if the requester could obtain the same materials elsewhere.
- A withholding is “improper” unless justified by a specific FOIA exemption; convenience or alternate-source availability is not an exemption.
- FOIA’s disclosure duty turns on agency possession and control, not on the document’s original author or its accessibility from another government repository.

## Conclusion

The Court required DOJ to produce district court tax opinions and final orders in its files under FOIA, holding they were agency records and that refusal to disclose them was improper absent a valid statutory exemption, regardless of their availability from the courts.


U.S. Dep’t of Justice v. Tax Analysts, 492 U.S. 136 (1989)