The 1986 Freedom of Information Act amendments were passed as a last-minute rider to Reagan-era War on Drugs legislation. The three pieces – a broad restructuring of Exemption 7, the law enforcement exemption; the addition of exclusions for law enforcement and intelligence requests; and introduction of a new fee structure – have had a lasting impact on FOIA implementation and contribute to the contemporary inability to affect police transparency. Review of the 1986 FOIA amendments’ legislative history documents the White House’s determination to loosen law enforcement oversight and congressional appeals to exaggerated fears of illicit drug users. The study considers the effect on judicial interpretation of Exemption 7, exploring decisions before and after the amendments, while also analyzing FOIA use and implementation patterns through a dataset of annual reports from 1975 until present. The analysis reveals a sharp increase in Exemption 7 claims and “no records” responses, both attributable to the 1986 FOIA amendments.

中文翻译：

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秘密警察：1986年FOIA修正案的持久影响

1986年的《信息自由法》修正案是里根时代禁毒战争立法的最后一站。这三部分是对豁免7的广泛重组，即执法豁免；为执法和情报要求增加了排除事项；以及引入新的收费结构–对FOIA的实施产生了持久影响，并导致当代无法影响警察的透明度。对1986年FOIA修正案的立法历史的回顾表明，白宫决心放宽对执法人员的监督和国会对非法吸毒者的恐惧的呼吁。该研究考虑了豁免7对司法解释的影响，并探讨了修订前后的决定，同时还通过1975年至今的年度报告数据集分析FOIA的使用和实施模式。分析显示，豁免7索赔和“无记录”答复的急剧增加，这两者都是由于1986年FOIA修正案所致。