Department of Justice v. Landano, 508 U.S. 165 (1993), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the government is not entitled to a presumption that a source is confidential within the meaning of Exemption 7(D) of the Freedom of Information Act whenever the source provides information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the course of a criminal investigation.

[1] On August 13, 1976, during a robbery by two gunmen of the Hi-Way Check Cashing Service in Kearny, New Jersey, one of the gunman killed Newark police officer John Snow.

[2] A Hudson County Grand Jury indicted Allen Roller, Victor Forni, Bruce Reen, and Vincent James Landano for felony murder and armed robbery, along with other offenses.

Roller entered into a plea deal with the Hudson County Prosecutor and gave damaging testimony against Landano during the trial.

Roller stated that while planning the robbery, Forni offered to recruit "Jimmy"[fn 1] and that later Landano agreed to participate.

Jacob stated that when the business was being robbed, he activated the silent alarm and "hit the deck", never looking up as the robbers took the cash.

[7] Physical evidence found in the stolen car included a bloodstained jacket or vest, two pair of gloves, a blue hat, $60 in coins, a shell casing, and a partially filled coffee container.

In October 1978, Landano obtained a court order for the consideration of a motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence.

The New Jersey Court of Appeals also ordered the hearing to investigate any impact that any potentially lost or damaged materials could have had on the trial.

Believing that this violated the FOIA, Landano brought his case to the Federal District Court in order to get the requested documents released.

The FBI claimed that its withholding and redacting of documents was completely legal due to Exemption 7(D) of the Freedom of Information Act.

The Court of Appeals also rejected the FBI's argument that confidentiality can be presumed based on an investigation's subject matter.

Justice O'Connor said that the Court would accept the FBI's presumption of the confidentiality of any documents related to an informant for a murder case.

Finally, O'Connor rejected the FBI's argument that all its sources must be confidential in order to maintain effective law enforcement.

[17] This case was the first time the Supreme Court dealt with Exemption 7(D) of the Freedom of Information Act and the United States government's use of it.

The United States Department of Justice now uses more rigorous standards in determining what can be withheld under Exemption 7(D) and now uses more detailed and case-specific proofs for why a document cannot be released to the public.

In 1994, a court of appeals voided Landano's murder conviction and returned the case to Hudson County, New Jersey, for a retrial.