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16 KiB
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372 lines
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(word processor parameters LM=1, RM=70, TM=2, BM=2)
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Taken from KeelyNet BBS (214) 324-3501
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Sponsored by Vangard Sciences
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PO BOX 1031
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Mesquite, TX 75150
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March 8, 1990
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Freedom of Information Act
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and
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How you can use it
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Since its adoption by Congress in 1966, the FOIA has furnished
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previously unaccessible documents relating to government
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activities and a host of bizarre actions carried out in the name
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of our government.
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Without this act, we might never have known about the following
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actions on the part of various government agencies :
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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The CIA performed "behavior control" experiments on
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unsuspecting victims during the Cold War, using Americans in
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prisons as guinea pigs and the nation's universities as
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research centers. The techniques included "mind-bending" and
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memory-erasing drugs.
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From more than 1000 pages of previously classified CIA
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documents, the CIA was forced to release a letter written in
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1949 by a CIA operative which outlined ways agents could commit
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murder without getting caught.
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These techniques for undetectable murder included deep-freezing
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the victim, X-raying them to death and strangling with a bath
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towel.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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The FBI circulated a bogus newsletter in St. Louis in 1969
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containing smears about the sex lives of area civil rights
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figures as part of a scheme to harass and discredit them.
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The FBI later claimed that at least two civil rights figures
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were successfully discredited by the bogus publication, while
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another one was "destroyed."
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FBI efforts utilized harassment and disruption of black
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militant and leftist organizations. One instance attempted to
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break up a black leader's marriage by writing a poison-pen
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letter to his wife.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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After President Richard M. Nixon was forced to resign from
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office, he used his federal annual allowance of $150,000 to buy
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such items as electric golf carts, telephone taping equipment
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and a subscription to the Washington Post.
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Ironically, the Post had won a Pulitzer Prize for its reports
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on the Watergate scandal which eventually took Nixon from
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power.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Page 1
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Days after the suicide of Ernest Hemingway in the summer of
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1961, the FBI took notice of his death by inserting a clipping
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of a hostile obituary into a thick file folder it had kept on
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Hemingway.
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The file dated back to 1942 and showed how the U.S. Government
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considered Hemingway a subversive. During his life, Hemingway
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was almost paranoid in his fears of FBI harassment, not
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entirely unfounded as the FOIA papers prove.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Both the FBI and CIA kept files on the Rev. Robert F. Drinan, a
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Catholic priest elected to Congress in 1970.
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An 18 page CIA dossier included a review of a baccalaureate
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address Drinan gave in 1973 to the students of Sweet Briar
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College in Virginia.
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The file referred to his support of student protests "over the
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Kent State deaths and the invasion of Cambodia." It also noted
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that Drinan urged the abolition of all secret government files,
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including CIA files.
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The FBI dossier covered 81 pages and date to 1958. At that
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time, Drinan was dean of the Boston College Law School and very
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active in civil liberties of southern blacks. There were also
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papers on war speeches he had given.
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Drinan finally saw his files from both agencies by using the
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FOI Act in 1975. Total cost for copies of the papers : $8.10.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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The FOIA has been successfully used to gather formerly restricted
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documents on the following subjects :
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1) EPA reports on cancer causing agents
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2) Federal audit reports disclosing sloppy bookkeeping and
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misuse of federal research funds, involving hundreds of
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millions of dollars, by colleges and universities across the
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country.
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3) Dangerous biological warfare tests conducted in 1969, less
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than 50 miles from the White House, where Army scientists
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had sprayed hazardous zinc cadmium sulfide over the
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Cambridge, MD area in massive open air tests.
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4) Massive invasions of personal privacy and civil rights
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through the use of unauthorized wiretaps and monitoring.
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Departments who are known to "collect" information for secret
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files include :
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the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA),
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the Federal Bureau of Information (FBI),
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the Department of Defense (DOD),
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the Department of State,
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the National Security Council,
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the National Security Agency (NSA)
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and the Secret Service.
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The above agencies do not preclude the military and civil police
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keeping forces from FOIA requests. In fact, the FOIA gives "any
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person" access to ALL records of ALL agencies, unless these
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records fall within one of nine exempt categories.
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Page 2
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Under these categories, the agencies involved are permitted - BUT
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NOT REQURED - to withhold the information.
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You can make an informal telephone request for the data or
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documents you need. If you fail to get a satisfactory response,
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you can file a formal written request.
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Once you make a written request, the burden falls on the federal
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agency or the government to promptly provide you with the
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documents or to show that they fall within an exempt category.
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When such a written request is made, the federal agency has 10
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working days to either provide the information you require or to
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respond. IF THE AGENCY REFUSES TO RELEASE ALL OR PART OF THE
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INFORMATION SOUGHT, YOU MAY APPEAL TO THE AGENCY HEAD.
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If your appeal is denied or the agency again fails to reply within
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20 working days, you have the right to file suit in the federal
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court nearest you. If you win the lawsuit, the judge would direct
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the agency to release the desired information, AS WELL AS ORDERING
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IT TO PAY YOUR ATTORNEY FEES AND COURT COSTS.
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The FOIA Act covers all Federal agencies and ever government-
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controlled corporations such as the Postal Service and Amtrak.
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The agencies not covered by FOIA requests include federal courts,
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Congress, the President and his immediate staff. The Executive
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Office is covered by FOIA requests.
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The nature of the documents include papers, reports, letters,
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films, photographs, sound recordings and computer tapes. In order
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to cover all your bases, you must accurately describe what you are
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looking for.
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Any U.S. citizen or foreign national can use the FOIA act, as well
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as any corporation, partnership or other legal entity.
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In the event you wish to stick with an informal telephone request,
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call the agency's public information or press office. If they
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turn you down, call the agency's FOIA officer, letting him know
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that YOU WILL FILE A FORMAL REQUEST, AS WELL AS AN APPEAL AND
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LAWSUIT if necessary to get the data or documents you want.
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Due to the large body of archival information, some agencies such
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as the Defense or Agriculture departmens, have separate FOI
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officers in their regional offices and various subdivisions. If
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you know which region or office has the information you seek, send
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your request to that office.
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If you don't know which federal agency has the records, you may
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have to send formal requests to several agencies.
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Your envelope must clearly state, "FOI Act Request" along with a
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letter sent by registered mail, with a return receipt requested.
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You should also make a copy of the letter for your records.
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The letter should first state that your request is being made in
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compliance with federal FOI Act, 5 U.S.C. 552.
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Next, describe as clearly as you can what material you want,
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including names, places and the relevant time periods.
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Page 3
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You should be as specific as possible about what you want.
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Also in your letter, state that you expect to be sent ALL NON-
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EXEMPT parts of the requested records, as well as JUSTIFICATION
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FOR ANY DELETIONS. To assist in clarification, you may attach
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documents to further describe the subject of your inquiry.
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It would greatly help to state your intention to APPEAL ANY
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DECISION WHICH THE AGENCY MIGHT MAKE TO WITHHOLD THE DESIRED
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INFORMATION.
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None of this is free, so be prepared to pay any reasonable fee
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involved in the search for materials you request.
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ASK TO BE NOTIFIED, preferably by telephone, if the agency
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estimates the fee to exceed a certain dollar limit of your
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choosing.
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You may then decide if what you are pursuing is worth the cost.
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If you can still get the information you want, you might narrow
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the scope of the search and/or the number of documents you want.
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In the event you are a journalist, researcher or author planning
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to use the information you get in a publication, ask the agency to
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waive or reduce search and copying fees. YOU SHOULD STRESS THAT
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THE DATA YOU ARE REQUESTING WOULD "PRIMARILY BENEFIT THE GENERAL
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PUBLIC."
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Waiver requests can also be made by indigents and non-profit
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groups.
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In many cases, you might find it quicker and considerably cheaper
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to visit the agency and ask to examine the documents you are
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interested in, rather than having them copied and forwarded to
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you.
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To assist in your search, you might visit the reference department
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of your public library to find names, addresses and telephone
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number of federal agencies covered under the FOI Act. You can
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also check the federal office listings in your local phone
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directory.
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An excellent booklet is available from the FOI Service Center. It
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includes sample letters, forms and a directory of some major
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agency FOI phone numbers and addresses. It also has a section on
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the Privacy Act.
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You can request the booklet by writing the : FOI Service Center,
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c/o the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, 1125-15th
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Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005.
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The booklet also includes a schedule of fees charged by some
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federal agencies relative to FOI requests. Many agencies do not
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charge fees, though most do.
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Search fees normally run from $4 to $6 per hour for clerical
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personnel and from $10 to $18 per hour for professional employees.
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Computer-time varies, but can run from $60 to $80 per hour.
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Photocopying is normally 10 cents per page.
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Page 4
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You may be charged search fees EVEN IF FEW OR NO DOCUMENTS that
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you request are found. Agencies are required to publish uniform
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schedules for search and reproduction fees in the Federal
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Register.
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If the event you decide to appeal a request which is partly
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denied, it is often a good idea to accept what documents you can
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get and appeal the rest.
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The courts often give exemptions on the response deadlines to
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certain agencies such as the FBI, CIA and the Justice and State
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Departments because of the volume and backlog of the requests.
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You may negotiate with the FOI officer by telephone to prevent
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having to make a formal appeal. You may also compromise and get
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some of the denied documents released.
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The nine exemptions for denial of an FOI Act request are :
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1) national security, where release of records would cause
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"identifiable damage" to the nation
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2) internal personnel practices
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3) information specifically exempted by law - the "catch-all
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exemption"
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4) trade secrets or other confidential financial or commercial
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information
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5) inter-agency or intra-agency memos
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6) personal privacy, including personnel and medical files
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7) law enforcement investigations, both current and pending
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files only
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8) federally-regulated bank reports - a little used exemption
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which limits disclosure of sensitive financial reports
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which might undermine confidence in individual banks
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9) geological and geophysical information - oil and gas wells
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A sample form letter follows:
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Name of agency
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Department
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Address
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City, State, Zip
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Phone
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Current Date
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Dear Sir:
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This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act as
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amended (5 U.S.C. 552).
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(Identify who you are writing for and what you will do with the
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information.)
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I request copies of any and all directives, memoranda, letter
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or other records, including written memoranda of telephone
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conversations, which relate to the establishment of programs or
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plans concerning (whatever you are interested in) during the years
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of (from **** to ****).
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Page 5
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Previous documentation received under this act has dealt with
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(list if any previous FOI releases on this subject).
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(List specific requests, nature of, where, titles, people
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involved, time periods, specific information)
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In the unlikely event that access is denied to any part of
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the requested records, please describe the deleted material in
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detail and specify the statutory bases for the denial as well as
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your reasons for believing the alleged statutory justification
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applies in this instance.
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Please separately state your reasons for not invoking your
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discretionary powers to release the requested documents in the
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public interest. Such statements will be helpful to us in
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deciding whether to appeal an adverse determination, and in
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formulating our arguments in case we might possibly avoid
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unnecessary litigation.
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I/We anticipate, however, that you will make the requested
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materials available to us within the statutory prescribed period
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of ten(10) working days.
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I/We also request that you waive any applicable fees since
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disclosure meets the statutory standard for waiver of fees in that
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it would clearly be "In the public interest because furnishing the
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information can be considered as primarily benefiting the general
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public."
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I/We await your prompt reply.
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Your Name
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Your location or office
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Your group or title
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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We of VANGARD SCIENCES hope you find this of use in locating or
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releasing information of interest.
|
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We also appreciate your text or monetary contributions to assist
|
|||
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in the upkeep of KeelyNet.
|
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Thank you for using KeelyNet!
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FINIS
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Page 6
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