FBI/DOJ FOIA consult (Newark Police Department)
| Multi Request | FBI/DOJ FOIA consult |
| Submitted | Aug. 26, 2019 |
| Est. Completion | None |
MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests like this one. Learn more.
Communications
From: Emma North-Best
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
Copies of any emails, letters, memos or other records of consultations regarding public records requests (FOI/FOIL/FOIA etc.) with either the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Agency components.
I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers in outlets such as Gizmodo, MuckRock, Motherboard, Property of the People, Unicorn Riot, and The Outline, among others. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through non-profits such as the library Internet Archive and the journalist non-profit MuckRock, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance.
As my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available, I request that fees be waived.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 7 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Emma Best
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New Jersey Open Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 26, 2019. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New Jersey Open Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 26, 2019. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New Jersey Open Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 26, 2019. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New Jersey Open Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 26, 2019. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following request, copied below. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New Jersey Open Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 26, 2019. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New Jersey Open Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 26, 2019. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New Jersey Open Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 26, 2019. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Newark Police Department
Good Morning:
The Office of the Clerk makes an official request for clarification of this request.
OPRA operates to make identifiable government records readily accessible for inspection, copying, or examination. MAG Entm't v. Div. of Alcohol Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 549 (App. Div. 2005). A proper OPRA request must confined to a specific subject matter that is clearly and reasonably described with sufficient identifying information. Burke v. Brandes, 429 N.J. Super. 169, 177 (App. Div. 2012).
In accord with MAG, supra, and its progeny, in order to specifically identify an email, OPRA requests must contain: (1) the content and/or subject of the email, (2) the specific date or range of dates during which the email was transmitted or the emails were transmitted, and (3) a valid email request must identify the sender and recipient therefore. Elcavage v. West Milford Twp. (Passaic), GRC 2009-07 (2010). Armenti v. Robbinsville, GRC 2009-154 (2010) (applying Elcavage factors to other forms of written correspondence).
Fulfilling your request as currently phrased would require the Office of Information Technology to perform a search that would recover every communication mentioning the words "Department of Justice," "Federal Bureau of Investigation" and "Drug Enforcement Agency" for all time. This is so because you have not identified the date range of the communications you seek nor any specific people who would have communicated. Please amend your request such that it identifies a specific sender or senders and identifies specific recipients from an agency or agencies rather than an entire agency. Also please amend your request such that it contains a time period.
Sincerely,
Samora Noguera
From: Emma North-Best
You may limited the request to January 1, 2001 to the present. You admit I may select entire agencies, so I shall continue to do so. Even by your stringent reading of caselaw, per your own admission, the date concession makes the request valid. Thank you for proceeding.
From: Newark Police Department
Thank you for amending your request such that it contains a time period. Please identify the individuals from whom you seek communications. Selecting all communications between entire agencies does NOT conform with OPRA's case law.
In order to specifically identify an email, OPRA requests must contain: (1) the content and/or subject of the email, (2) the specific date or range of dates during which the email was transmitted or the emails were transmitted, and (3) a valid email request must identify the sender and recipient therefore. Elcavage v. West Milford Twp. (Passaic), GRC 2009-07 (2010). Armenti v. Robbinsville, GRC 2009-154 (2010) (applying Elcavage factors to other forms of written correspondence).
If you still seek the responsive emails, please identify the specific sender and recipients of the communications.
From: Emma North-Best
Are you able to search email participants by domain?
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New Jersey Open Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 26, 2019. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New Jersey Open Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 26, 2019. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New Jersey Open Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 26, 2019. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New Jersey Open Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 26, 2019. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New Jersey Open Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 26, 2019. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Newark Police Department
Hello Ms. Best:
We need further clarification. In order to process your request please identify ALL of the following: (1) the sender and recipients, (2) the date range of communications, and (3) the content of the emails. I have attached two sample OPRA requests that hopefully will exemplify what the previous messages have been trying to convey.
They all mention specific people, the date range, and subject matter. As long as I have that info, I can process your request. Without that information, your request remains vague pursuant to MAG, Elcavage, etc.
Files
pages