Main Articles – Page 10 – Harvard National Security Journal

Defense and Deference: Empirically Assessing Judicial Review of Freedom of Information Act’s National Security Exemption

April 7, 2020

Paulina Perlin[*] [Full text of this Article in PDF is available at this link] Introduction In 1981, the Washington Post submitted a request to the Department of Defense under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”)[1] for “information concerning the failed attempt in April, 1980, to rescue American hostages held in the United States embassy in Teheran.”[2] Invoking FOIA’s exemption for classified records,[3] the Department of Defense “withheld or partially withheld numerous documents . . . in large part due to concern for the national security.”[4] In accordance with FOIA’s judicial review provision,[5] the Washington Post challenged these nondisclosures in court. Given […]

First Amendment Sentence Mitigation: Beyond a Public Accountability Defense for Whistleblowers

Mailyn Fidler[*] [Full text of this Article in PDF is available at this link] Introduction In October 2018, the federal district court in Minnesota sentenced former Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) agent Terry James Albury to four years in prison under the Espionage Act for disclosing internal FBI documents to the press.[1] Albury pleaded guilty but contended he was a whistleblower acting in the public interest; he argued he had disclosed systemic racial biases within the FBI and throughout its investigations.[2] At sentencing, Albury’s lawyers argued that his motives mattered: “[C]ontrary to the government’s claims, Mr. Albury’s motivation for his