Judge Finds That FBI in FOIA Case “Officially Confirmed” Identity of Civil Rights Informant

In a significant victory for the cause of government transparency, a D.C. federal judge has ruled that the FBI must produce a full accounting of noted Civil Rights photographer Ernest Withers‘ file as a confidential informant. Memphis Publishing Company v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2012 WL 269900 (D.D.C. January 31, 2012 D.D.C.). This ruling comes in response to the FBI‘s consistent denials that it had any obligation under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to acknowledge that Withers had been an informant.