Latest Developments
- Freedom of Information Act Case -
- Freedom of Information Act Case -
5/30/23 - The briefing schedule extended into 2023. We are waiting on the U.S. District Court to decide the case and render an opinion. Among the issues being litigated: the FBI has in effect put its main Sentinel database off limits to FOIA researchers by not adopting Boolean technology (i.e., the connector 'and' common in database searches). The Bureau can only search Sentinel one word at a time, yielding hundreds of thousands or millions of hits. Then it claims it would be too burdensome to wade through all those hits to find records relevant to what FOIA plaintiffs seek. See the game? Because the FBI has spent lots of money on other technology and made a deliberate choice not to bring Sentinel up to even 20th century standards, we are arguing it should be required to purchase Boolean technology for Sentinel so FOIA researchers can get access to the FBI's main repository of records.
11/12/21 - The FBI asked for more time and promised to produce more documents. A new briefing schedule runs out to July 2022.
8/20/21 - Plaintiff filed his opposition to the government's motion for summary judgment. The opposition is published on the Sharia TipSheet page of this website.
8/10/21 - In the FOIA case against the FBI, the government filed for summary judgment. Plaintiff's response will be published here soon.
9/8/18 - Document production has begun and will continue for months. So far, the government has only turned over documents released in response to previous FOIA requests by others, more than 2,000 pages which are being reviewed now. Liberato.US will publish its findings from these documents soon.
8/1/18 - Plaintiff has sent a long letter to defendant outlining the scope of an adequate search for records. The government has taken the position that the Department of Justice was sued, not just the FBI, so the scope of an adequate search now includes Department of Justice units and officials.
5/18/18 - The FBI has started working on most of the records requests. The parties agreed on June 29th as the date for the FBI to say how many pages are involved. Monthly productions are to commence August 15th. The scheduling conference for May 22nd was cancelled in light of these developments. The parties must report the status of the case to the court by August 27th.
5/15/18 – Negotiations with the FBI’s counsel have commenced. A scheduling hearing is set for May 22nd.
5/2/18 - The FBI filed an answer.
4/2/18 - The FBI is still refusing to get with the program and take the steps the Department of Homeland Security has taken to restore sanity to its counterterrorism policy. The FBI failed to respond to a FOIA request pertaining to counterterrorism training materials and doctrine, and related matters. Consequently, a FOIA suit was filed against the FBI on 4/2/18.
11/12/21 - The FBI asked for more time and promised to produce more documents. A new briefing schedule runs out to July 2022.
8/20/21 - Plaintiff filed his opposition to the government's motion for summary judgment. The opposition is published on the Sharia TipSheet page of this website.
8/10/21 - In the FOIA case against the FBI, the government filed for summary judgment. Plaintiff's response will be published here soon.
9/8/18 - Document production has begun and will continue for months. So far, the government has only turned over documents released in response to previous FOIA requests by others, more than 2,000 pages which are being reviewed now. Liberato.US will publish its findings from these documents soon.
8/1/18 - Plaintiff has sent a long letter to defendant outlining the scope of an adequate search for records. The government has taken the position that the Department of Justice was sued, not just the FBI, so the scope of an adequate search now includes Department of Justice units and officials.
5/18/18 - The FBI has started working on most of the records requests. The parties agreed on June 29th as the date for the FBI to say how many pages are involved. Monthly productions are to commence August 15th. The scheduling conference for May 22nd was cancelled in light of these developments. The parties must report the status of the case to the court by August 27th.
5/15/18 – Negotiations with the FBI’s counsel have commenced. A scheduling hearing is set for May 22nd.
5/2/18 - The FBI filed an answer.
4/2/18 - The FBI is still refusing to get with the program and take the steps the Department of Homeland Security has taken to restore sanity to its counterterrorism policy. The FBI failed to respond to a FOIA request pertaining to counterterrorism training materials and doctrine, and related matters. Consequently, a FOIA suit was filed against the FBI on 4/2/18.