SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--U.S. District Judge William Alsup Friday handed another victory to a small business advocacy group, the American Small Business League ("ASBL"), holding that the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice didn't comply with his previous orders requiring them to disclose their ratings of major defense contractors and the Justice Department's communications with defense contractors' lawyers.

Judge Alsup's ruling is the latest in a long-running, David-versus-Goliath struggle between ASBL and the two federal agencies. The government has already had to pay ASBL $500,000 in attorney's fees in the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") case.

The latest, June 5 ruling held that even after an earlier ruling last November, the government was withholding too much information from its "compliance reviews" of defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky. The Pentagon is required to monitor defense contractors' compliance with subcontracting goals as part of a mandated government-wide effort to provide at least 23 percent of the total value of all prime contracts to small and minority-owned businesses. In the past, the government has disclosed to the public positive reviews of the defense contractors but tried to hide negative reviews, claiming they are confidential.

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