The Supreme Court has granted certiorari in the case of Howard Samson Abramson v. the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Civ. Action No. 77-2206 (D.C. Cir., Oct. 24,1980). The case is expected to be heard in the fall.
The issue in the Abramson case, which is on appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is whether material extracted from the FBI's records and summarized for a White House "name check" loses its protection as "investigatory records compiled for law enforcement purposes" under Exemption 7.
In its petition for certiorari, the Department of Justice noted that
the Abramson case "presents an important question concerning the
scope of protection accorded by Exemption 7 of the Freedom of Information Act,
5 U.S.C.
The petition further argues that Congress' purpose in passing Exemption 7(C)
was "to guarantee the personal privacy of individuals who are the subject
of law enforcement investigations
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