Dept. of Justice Asks for Outrageous FOIA Fees in Secret Trials for 9-11 Detention Cases
Monday, February 7, 2005 at 06:09AM
TheSpook
People For the American Way Foundation
(PFAWF) President Ralph G. Neas said today that a Justice Department
demand for nearly $400,000 in fees for a FOIA request regarding the
decision to seal the records of immigrants detained in the wake of the
9-11 terrorist attacks is outrageous, and another in a series of
strategies to deny access to public information. “Apparently, they’ve
taken the ‘free’ out of ‘Freedom of Information.’ If you want to learn
about secret trials carried out by your government with your money,
you’re going to need deep pockets,” said Neas. “It’s clear that
this is just the latest tactic in the Justice Department’s ongoing
effort to hide information from the American public, particularly about
‘secret’ legal proceedings for immigrants held for months and sometimes
years in the wake of the terrorist attacks,” said Neas. “In decades of
public advocacy, we’ve never been asked to provide fees of this
magnitude. They’re clearly setting up new barriers to the release of
information that ought to be made public immediately. It begs the
question: What are they hiding?” PFAWF first made the FOIA request
November 25, 2003. It was denied by the Justice Department on the
grounds of privacy in December, 2003. PFAWF contested the decision in a
lawsuit filed in August, 2004. Only after the lawsuit was filed did
Justice Department officials decide to ask for the records from U.S.
Attorneys’ offices around the country. The department then concocted an
estimate of $372,999 for the request, and asked for advance payment in
a letter sent January 11, 2005. PFAWF has until February 10 to respond.
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