Some individuals and employees of the Department of Justice are subject to nondisclosure agreements due to their access to Sensitive Compartmented Information and other classified information. Pursuant to their nondisclosure agreements, certain materials are subject to review to ensure that classified information is not included before the individual may publish such material. Individuals who are not subject to a nondisclosure agreement may also voluntarily submit materials if they feel there may be classified material contained within. Employees first submit their materials for review to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security or his/her designee. They may appeal this frontline decision to the Deputy Attorney General, thus reaching the hearing level in this scheme. The Deputy Attorney General's decision is the final administrative decision and it is subject to judicial review. Individuals may obtain judicial review either by filing an action for declaratory relief, or by giving the Department notice of their intention to proceed with publication despite the Department's request for deletions of classified information and giving the Department 30 working days to file a civil action to prohibit disclosure. 28 CFR 17.18(i).
NOTE: This scheme applies only to employees and individuals that are not employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"). FBI employees submit their publications to a different hearing office and are covered under a separate scheme (DOJXPUBF0017).