Front of the Supreme Court in front of blue sky

July 31, 2020Clinic brings Freedom of Information Act case for Sierra Club

The Animal Law & Policy Clinic’s Director Katherine Meyer has filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court in a Freedom of Information Act for a case that the Court will be considering next term.

The Animal Law & Policy Clinic’s Director Katherine Meyer filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court on Friday, July 31 in a Freedom of Information Act for a case that the Court will be considering next term.

The case, brought by the Sierra Club, involves the public’s right of access to scientific analyses concerning the adverse impacts of federal actions on endangered and threatened species.

The Trump Administration is arguing that all records that pre-date an agency’s final decision are exempt from disclosure because they are “deliberative” in nature, regardless of whether those records contain purely factual and scientific information.

If the Supreme Court accepts that position the public will no longer be able to monitor whether the government is accurately representing the scientific — and other— impacts of its actions, including, for example, whether those actions are contributing to climate change, and whether the government is taking adequate steps to address a global pandemic, such as the coronavirus.

The Clinic is representing The Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife. The brief was filed in conjunction with Eric Glitzenstein, Director of Litigation for the Center for Biological Diversity, who will be teaching Wildlife Law at Harvard Law School in the Spring.