PREAMBLE TO LISTS OF
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT CASES

The lists of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) cases which follow include:

List of Freedom of Information Act Cases Received in 1981;

List of Freedom of Information Act Cases in Which a Decision Was Rendered in 1981, Including the Disposition of Each Such Case, the Exemptions Involved, and the Fees and Costs Awarded, if any;

An Addendum to the Above-Described Case Lists

The attorneys' fees and costs listed with the cases in which a decision was rendered in 1981 reflect amounts paid to the plaintiffs unless otherwise indicated. In addition, this list of cases may include cases also listed on previous annual reports. For example, a case decided in 1980 but appealed and affirmed in 1981 would be found on the list of cases in which a decision was rendered in 1980 (the 1980 Annual Report) and on the list of cases in which a decision was rendered in 1981 (the 1981 Annual Report).

Addenda must also be included each year because the handling of cases is, to some extent, decentralized and not all completed cases come to the Civil Division's attention before the reports are prepared. While some cases are handled by, or supervised by, the Civil Division, others are delegated to other Divisions within the Department, to the United States Attorneys, or to other agencies. This year, the addenda also include cases previously reported. These cases are listed again to show corrections or additional information and are separated and marked with asterisks.

The lists do not include "reverse" FOIA cases. They do include cases involving the National Labor Relations Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, all of which, by statutory authority or agreement with the Attorney General, handle FOIA cases in which they are the defendant.


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