Guides: National Security Law Research Guide: Classification & Declassification of Government Documents

Key to Icons

Georgetown only
On Westlaw
On Lexis
On Bloomberg
PDF
More Info (hover)
Preeminent Treatise
Study Aid

Classification & Declassification of Government Documents

For the most part, individual federal agencies decide whether to classify or declassify information they create. They do so on the basis of Exec. Order No. 13,526, 75 Fed. Reg. 707 (Dec. 29, 2009) and guidance issued by the Information Security Oversight Office of the National Archives and Records Administration (ISOO). Appeals of classification decisions are decided by the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel.

A. Information Security Oversight Office In addition to issuing guidance to other agencies on classification matters, the ISOO also gathers and analyzes statistics on other agencies' classification programs, and provides program and administrative support for the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel.

Information classification and safeguarding: 50 U.S.C. §§ 3161-3164 (Westlaw: Information Classification and Safeguarding Laws) (Lexis: Information Classification and Safeguarding Laws)
Exec. Order No. 13,526, 75 Fed. Reg. 707 (Dec. 29, 2009) (as amended by Exec. Order No. 13,691, 80 Fed. Reg. 9,349 (Feb. 13, 2015) (prescribing a uniform system for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information).
Exec. Order No. 12,829, 58 Fed. Reg. 3,479 (Jan. 6, 1993) (as amended by Exec. Order No. 12,885, 58 Fed. Reg. 65,863 (Dec. 14, 1993), and Exec. Order No. 13,691, 80 Fed. Reg. 9,349 (Feb. 13, 2015)) (establishes a National Industrial Security Program to safeguard Federal Government classified information that is released to contractors, licensees, and grantees of the United States Government).
Exec. Order No. 13,549, 75 Fed. Reg. 51,609 (Aug. 18, 2010) (establishing a classified national security information program for state, local, tribal, and private sector entities).
Exec. Order No. 13,556, 75 Fed. Reg. 68,675 (Nov. 4, 2010) (establishing an open and uniform program for managing information that requires safeguarding or dissemination controls).
Exec. Order No. 13,587, 76 Fed. Reg. 63,811 (Oct. 7, 2011) (structural reforms to improve security of classified networks and the responsible sharing and safeguarding of classified information).
ISOO Regulations: 32 C.F.R. pt. 2001 (Westlaw: ISOO Regulations) (Lexis: ISOO Regulations)
ISOO Annual Reports to the President

B. Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel The panel decides appeals by authorized holders of classified information who have filed classification challenges under § 1.8 of Exec. Order No. 13,526. It also approves, denies, or amends agency exemptions from automatic declassification (§ 3.3), and decides mandatory declassification review appeals by parties whose requests for declassification under § 3.5 have been denied at the agency level.

Statutes Related to Classified Information

50 U.S.C. §§ 3161-3164 (Westlaw: 50 USCA §§ 3161-3164) (Lexis: 50 USCS §§ 3161-3164) (providing the procedural outlines for the classification of information and the safeguarding of classified information).
42 U.S.C. §§ 2161-2169 (Westlaw: 42 USCA §§ 2161-2169) (Lexis: 42 USCS §§ 2161-2169) (prescribe procedures for the classification and safeguarding of information related to nuclear weapons and atomic energy).
18 U.S.C. § 798 (Westlaw: 18 USCA § 798) (Lexis: 18 USCS § 798) (criminalizing the communication of classified information to an unauthorized person).
Freedom of Information Act of 1966 (FOIA), Pub. L. 89-554, 80 Stat. 383, codified as amended at 5 U.S.C. § 552 (Westlaw: 5 USCA § 552) (Lexis: 5 USCS § 552) (permitting nondisclosure of government information that is "(A) specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and (B) are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order." 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(1)).

Declassified Documents Databases

U.S. Declassified Documents Online Full text searchable access to a selection of over 75,000 previously classified U.S. government documents. Post World War II documents include correspondence and memoranda, minutes of cabinet meetings, technical studies, national security policy statements, and intelligence reports.
Digital National Security Archive Contains more than 650,000 pages of declassified primary documents that led to policy decisions. Covers such areas as Afghanistan, Berlin Crisis 1958-1962, Cuban Missile Crisis, El Salvador, Iran-Contra Affair, etc.
CIA Crest Database The automatic declassification provisions of Executive Order 13526 (formerly EO 12958, as amended) require the declassification of nonexempt historically valuable records 25 years or older.
National Security Agency FOIA releases Presidential Transition documents prepared by NSA, UFO documents and more.
Homeland Security FOIA releases Documents on Science and Technology, Intelligence and Analysis and other components.

National Security Law Research Guide

Contents

Key to Icons

Classification & Declassification of Government Documents

Statutes Related to Classified Information

Declassified Documents Databases