Histories of INSCOM MI Companies
Submitted | Aug. 23, 2018 |
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Communications
From: Emma North-Best
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
Copies of the following Historical Publications of INSCOM, maintained by the INSCOM History Office:
History of the 401st MI Company (2001)
History of the 406th MI Company (2001)
History of the 407th MI Company (2001)
History of the 408th MI Company (2001)
History of the 409th MI Company (2001)
I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I am freelance writer who has previously written about the government and its activities for MuckRock, Motherboard, Unicorn Riot, AND Magazine and Glomar Disclosure. My articles have been widely read, with some reaching over 100,000 readers. My work has been further discussed in outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and BBC. 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 the non-profit Internet Archive, 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. Additionally, case law states that “proof of the ability to disseminate the released information to a broad cross-section of the public is not required.” Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Dep’t of Justice, 365 F.3d 1108, 1126 (D.C. Cir. 2004); see Carney v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 19 F.3d 807, 814-15 (2d Cir. 1994). Further, courts have held that "qualified because it also had “firm” plans to “publish a number of . . . ‘document sets’” concerning United States foreign and national security policy." Under this criteria, as well, I qualify as a member of the news media. Additionally, courts have held that the news media status "focuses on the nature of the requester, not its request. The provision requires that the request be “made by” a representative of the news media. Id. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II). A newspaper reporter, for example, is a representative of the news media regardless of how much interest there is in the story for which he or she is requesting information." As such, the details of the request itself are moot for the purposes of determining the appropriate fee category. As such, my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available and I therefore request that fees be waived. Per DOJ FOIA guidance, "a requester should be granted a fee waiver if the requested information (1) sheds light on the activities and operations of the government; (2) is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of those operations and activities; and (3) is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester." As this FOIA meets all of those requirements (see above regarding the subject and how I will apply the information), a fee waiver is warranted.
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 20 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Emma Best
From: US Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM)
A copy of documents responsive to the request.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 23, 2018. 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: US Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM)
Ms. Best:
Your request was responded to on September 12, 2018. Please see the attached letter. I trust this information will be of assistance to you.
v/r
Lora
Lora Ballard
Supervisory Intelligence Specialist (OPS Support)
U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command Freedom of Information/Privacy
Act Office
ATTN: IAMG-C-FOI
2600 Ernie Pyle Street
Fort Meade, MD 20755-5910
From: Emma North-Best
Unfortunately, no response from September 12th was received. Please resend the responsive documents referred to in the cover letter emailed on September 21st. Thank you so much!
From: US Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM)
CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
We would like to wait a reasonable amount of time before duplicating our efforts to resend another copy at this time. Please check with your mail room and if you do not receive the information within the next two weeks, please let me know.
v/r
Lora Ballard
Supervisory Intelligence Specialist (OPS Support)
U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command Freedom of Information/Privacy
Act Office
ATTN: IAMG-C-FOI
2600 Ernie Pyle Street
Fort Meade, MD 20755-5910
From: Emma North-Best
It's not in the mail room, and it's not reasonable that it would take 3-5 weeks for a piece of mail to arrive.
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