In the case of Weinberger, Secretary of Defense, et al. v. Catholic Action of Hawaii/Peace Education Project et al., 1981, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Department of Defense (DoD). The dispute centered around a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request by Catholic Action for an environmental impact statement on a proposed naval weapons storage facility in Hawaii that was exempted from public disclosure due to national security concerns. The DoD argued that no such document existed because they had not prepared one as it would have revealed classified information about nuclear weapons stored at the site - something which itself was classified and thus could neither be confirmed nor denied without jeopardizing national security interests. The court held that FOIA did not require agencies to create or obtain documents they didn't already possess just so they could then deny their existence under an exemption clause; therefore, since there was no evidence showing otherwise, it accepted DoD's claim that no such report existed.

In the dissenting opinion for Weinberger v. Catholic Action of Hawaii/Peace Education Project, Justice Thurgood Marshall argued that the majority's decision to dismiss the case on grounds of state secrets privilege was a misinterpretation of both NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) and FOIA (Freedom Of Information Act). He contended that these acts were designed to ensure transparency in government decisions affecting environment, not shield them from public scrutiny. The Navy’s refusal to confirm or deny whether it stored nuclear weapons at West Loch violated this principle by preventing any meaningful review of its environmental impact statement. Furthermore, he disagreed with the majority's view that acknowledging storage would reveal classified information; stating such admission does not necessarily disclose specific details about quantity or type which could pose security risks. Therefore, he believed this case should have been remanded back to lower courts for further proceedings instead of being dismissed outright.