PRE-DECISIONAL & DELIBERATIVE PROCESS UPDATES U.S. -

SUPREME COURT DECISION -

On March 4, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in United States Fish and Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club addressing the “deliberative process privilege” under the Federal FOIA law. The Court rarely weighs in on the Federal FOIA, and it only applies to requests to federal agencies. But Illinois courts and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office have long recognized the value of Federal court decisions when analyzing the Illinois FOIA law. In the first published opinion by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the Court provided useful guidance on when a document will be considered a draft, pre-decisional document that is protected from FOIA.