Prudential Locations LLC v. U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development

The Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) establishes a strong default rule: Government must disclose information in its possession unless it invokes, at its discretion, one of nine narrow exemptions. See, e.g., U.S. Dep’t of Def. v. FLRA, 510 U.S. 487, 494, 114 S.Ct. 1006, 127 L.Ed.2d 325 (1994) (citing U.S. Dep’t of Air Force v. Rose, 425 U.S. 352, 360-61, 96 S.Ct. 1592, 48 L.Ed.2d 11 (1976)); see also 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(l)-(9) (enumerating exemptions). Here, HUD has invoked only Exemption 6, which authorizes withholding “personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which…