EPIC Sues DOJ for PATRIOT Act Lobbying Info

[lysergik]

From EPIC's ALERT email, should be on their site at http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_10.21.html soon.

---------
EPIC filed suit in federal district court this week seeking the
release of Department of Justice (DOJ) records regarding the efforts
of federal prosecutors to oppose legislative revisions to the
controversial USA PATRIOT Act. The lawsuit challenges DOJ's refusal
to expedite the processing of EPIC's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
request for the material.

On July 22, the House of Representatives voted 309-118 to prohibit the
use of federal funds for the execution of delayed notice search
warrants. "Sneak and peek" warrants, which were authorized by the USA
PATRIOT Act, allow law enforcement officers to conduct a search of an
individual's property and delay notifying that individual until after
the search occurred. On August 14, DOJ issued a memorandum urging all
U.S. Attorneys "to call personally or meet with . . . congressional
representatives" to talk over "the potentially deleterious effects" of
denying funding for delayed notification warrants. The memo included
a list of Representatives and identified those who had voted to
prohibit such warrants. The memorandum received substantial media
coverage and raised serious questions regarding the legality of the
prosecutors' lobbying efforts.

EPIC submitted a FOIA request to DOJ for information about the
memorandum, and requested expedited processing, as provided under the
FOIA and DOJ regulations. The department refused to expedite on the
grounds that "the subject of request is not one of
exceptional media interest, nor does it raise any questions about the
government's integrity which might affect public confidence."
Furthermore, DOJ determined that EPIC's request "does not support a
finding that that there is an urgency to inform the public" about
DOJ's lobbying campaign.

EPIC filed suit October 14, seeking a preliminary injunction requiring
DOJ to process EPIC's request and release the documents as soon as
possible. In support of its entitlement to expedited processing, EPIC
noted widespread media interest in the DOJ memorandum and cited
editorials and news articles questioning the propriety of the
prosecutors' lobbying activities.

EPIC's memorandum in support of its motion for a preliminary
injunction is available at:

http://www.epic.org/open_gov/foia/otter_pi.pdf

For background information, see EPIC's USA PATRIOT Act page:

http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/usapatriot