
National Archives and Records Administration v. Favish
United States Supreme Court
541 U.S. 157 (2004)
Relevant factsFree
After deputy White House counsel Vincent Foster Jr. was found dead in a park and law enforcement concluded he had committed suicide, taking ten photographs of the death scene, citizen Allan Favish (plaintiff) sued the National Archives and Records Administration (defendant) under FOIA seeking disclosure of the death-scene photographs; the district court ordered five photographs released, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed.
IssueFree
Whether Exemption 7(C) of the Freedom of Information Act permits family members to assert their own privacy rights with respect to their deceased relatives.
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