United States Department of State et al. v. Washington Post Co.
Decided May 17, 1982. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 81-535 · 456 U.S. 595 (1982) · Cited 791 times
Holding
The citizenship information sought by respondent satisfies the "similar files" requirement of Exemption 6, and hence the State Department's denial of the request should have been sustained upon a showing that release of the information would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 9–0.
Majority · 8
Concurring · 1
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- Department of the Air Force v. Rose · 425 U.S. 352 (1976)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- United States Department of State v. Ray · 502 U.S. 164 (1991)
- Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson Central School District v. Rowley Ex Rel. Rowley · 458 U.S. 176 (1982)
- United States Department of Justice v. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press · 489 U.S. 749 (1989)
- John Doe Agency v. John Doe Corp. · 493 U.S. 146 (1989)
- Federal Communications Commission v. AT&T Inc. · 562 U.S. 397 (2011)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1982). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).