The Uselessness of FOIA

4/1/2021

Some readers may remember that I am attempting to study the condition of military prisons, beginning with Marine Corps brigs. To that end, I filed this FOIA request last November: "Please provide all Article 138 complaints filed by prisoners in USMC Brig Camp Pendleton and USMC Brig Camp Lejeune from 1/1/2010 to 11/1/2020." After four months, I received a response denying my request:

"This responds to your November 17, 2020, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for “all Article 138 complaints filed by prisoners in USMC Brig Camp Pendleton.”.... Please be advised, a proper FOIA request must “reasonably describe” the records sought. Requests that seek “any and all” documents/records, “any documents or information,” or “all documents/information” are impermissibly broad and do not comply with FOIA's requirement that the request for records reasonably describe such records. For the foregoing reason, we will administratively close this request."" This was signed by a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps with the title of SJA.

I have no doubt that gaining access to these records would take months, if not years, and would require a federal court lawsuit. Why does it have to be this hard? I know that FOIA has been used to great effect in the Bergdahl litigation and in other instances, but I would bet that on the whole it is pretty much useless unless one is willing to expend substantial time and resources. FOIA has not lived up to its promise.

Brenner Fissell

EIC

7 Comments

Greg

4/1/2021 04:12:49 pm

Have you appealed it? I would suggest doing so, and also filing a new FOIA request for records created in conjunction with your first request.

Scott

4/1/2021 10:17:02 pm

That’s interesting (requesting records related to the prior request). What would you get in response to that?

4/2/2021 07:58:06 am

It doesn't always help, but (especially if they're being intentionally evasive) you can sometimes find statements to the effect of "we know what records this refers to, but let's deny him anyway," which can be useful to an appeal. Sometimes, even if they're acting in good faith, you can even find references to a specific record or records ("is X document responsive to this?"), which at least gives you a something you can request to their level of specificity and you can try to pull the thread from there. It's not perfect, and it takes a long time even when it works, but it can work.

Tami a/k/a Princess Leia

4/2/2021 10:12:09 am

This is BS. The request specifies a particular kind of record--Article 138 complaints. Also specifies the time frame. I would appeal. Someone is either being lazy or their trying to hide something.

Lone Bear

4/2/2021 07:22:01 pm

They probably only have 3 or 4 a year.

Concerned Citizen

4/3/2021 04:04:41 pm

Something related you also might find interesting is the places that PTC people are kept in, often civilian institutions that the local installation contracts with and which fall well below military standards. A lot of this information would be public record in Article 13 motions.

Poster

4/3/2021 05:02:10 pm

https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/12-2014.pdf
On PTC.
Incorrect in a few places. Ft. Bliss was using a contract prison that was on the installation. The military judge found he had no jurisdiction over the place. Total government tool.

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CAAFlog

The Uselessness of FOIA

Brenner Fissell

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