Armstrong v. Executive Office of the President

The National Security Council and the Executive Office of the President (collectively, the federal agencies) (defendants) utilized an electronic communications system for performing government business. The electronic communications system allowed federal employees to access shared appointment calendars, documents, and emails. The electronic communications system also allowed federal employees to generate paper records from the information stored in the electronic system. The federal agencies utilized the printed records as the official records of the agency and allowed its employees to delete the electronic versions without seeking prior approval. However, the paper records were not identical to the electronic records because the electronic documents contained additional information and context that could not be reflected in the paper documents. The federal agencies were required to create, manage, and dispose of public documents in accordance with the Federal Records Act. Records subject to the Federal Records Act could not be disposed of without first obtaining the approval of an archivist. Scott Armstrong and the National Security Archive, a not-for-profit entity that was not associated with any public body (collectively, the requestors) (plaintiffs), filed several open-records-law requests with the federal agencies for the electronic versions of the documents stored in the electronic communications system. The requestors simultaneously filed a lawsuit in federal district court seeking a declaration that electronic records contained in the federal agencies’ systems were records subject to the Federal Records Act. The district court held that the federal agencies’ practices were deficient because the paper records and electronic records did not contain identical information. The district court also held that the federal agencies failed to adequately manage staff with regard to the maintenance of records. The federal agencies appealed.