Food stamps were at the heart of a case heard last week at the Supreme Court. The decision is forthcoming—and may change the legal standards governing disclosure of confidential commercial information
Food stamps were at the heart of a case heard last week at the Supreme Court. At oral argument, the Court wrestled with the disclosure of retailer data in the nation’s food stamp program. The decision is forthcoming and may change the legal standards governing disclosure of confidential commercial information., a South Dakota newspaper, made a request under the federal Freedom of Information Act for food stamp data.
In the nation’s food stamp program, officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program , participants redeem electronic benefits in a process that looks like a customer using a debit card. The benefits are processed, the groceries are purchased, and eventually redemption data is sent to the USDA, which administers SNAP. Historically,
treated this redemption data as confidential and withheld it from public disclosure, even going so far as to assert that the agency did not have the authority to disclose the information at all.notes that the basic function of the statute is to “ensure informed citizens, vital to the functioning of a democratic society.” Yet, this transparency is subject to certain restrictions, called exclusions and exemptions.
, which exempts from disclosure “trade secrets and commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential.”case may offer an opportunity for the Supreme Court to assess a 1974 standard regarding confidentiality. This standard came about because the FOIA statute did not define the term “confidential” as used in Exemption 4.
, several justices raised questions as to whether this food stamp case was justiciable, that is whether the case was properly even before the Court. If the Court does reach the merits, there is a possibility that the justices will read the term “confidential” more broadly and change the way that the USDA and other agencies evaluate their disclosure obligations under FOIA and Exemption 4. The Court’s decision is expected in the coming months.I’m an attorney writing about food law and policy.
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