Law Commons^™

Cia V. Sims: Mosaic Theory And Government Attitude, Christina E. Wells

Faculty Publications

In CIA v. Sims, the United States Supreme Court held that the CIA could withhold information about controversial government-sponsored psychological experiments in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The Court reasoned that the requested information would reveal intelligence sources related to national defense, which were specifically protected from disclosure under the National Security Act of 1947. Accordingly, the Court concluded that the CIA could refuse to disclose the information under FOIA Exemption 3, which allows withholding of information “specifically exempted from disclosure by statute.” Numerous scholars assailed Sims, arguing that the Court's broad reading of the National Security …