The following excerpt is from Pulido v. Lunes, 1:14-cv-01174-DAD-EPG (PC) (E.D. Cal. 2016):
In Kerr v. United States Dist. Ct. for the N. Dist. of Cal., 511 F.2d 192 (9th Cir. 1975), aff'd 426 U.S. 394 (1976), the 9th Circuit examined the government's claim of the official information privilege as a basis to withhold documents sought under the Freedom of Information Act. In doing so, it explained that the "common law governmental privilege (encompassing and referred to sometimes as the official or state secret privilege) . . . is only a qualified privilege, contingent upon the competing interests of the requesting litigant and subject to disclosure . . . ." Kerr v. U.S. Dist. Court for Northern Dist. of California, 511 F.2d 192, 198 (9th Cir. 1975) aff'd 426 U.S. 394 (1976) (internal citations and quotations omitted).
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