USPIS records re: Theodore John Kaczynski

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

All records of the agency concerning the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's participation in the investigation of bombings attributed to Theodore John Kaczynski, also known as "Ted" and "Unabomber." These records may be referenced by the FBI's case and task-force identifier "UNABOM." Bombings attributed to Kaczynski took place from 1978 to 1996.

Please note as well, that artificats from the investigation have been put on public display at the U.S. Postal Museum, and any inventory or descriptions of these artifacts should be considered responsive to the request.

If any potentially responsive records have been destroyed and/or transferred to NARA, then I request copies of the destruction or transfer slips as well as any other documentation relating to, mentioning or describing said transfer or destruction, to include but not be limited to confirmation that the USPIS has no other copies of said records.

Kaczynski is widely reported to be deceased. Please see PDF printout of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator as proof. After death, privacy interests recognized under exemptions to FOIA as well as the Privacy Act are diminished, and are outweighed by the public interest served by release of the records. Also note that any security concerns regarding unsolved cases naming Kaczynski as a suspect are also moot.

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,

T. McElwee

I appeal the agency's response on several accounts:

1) T. McElwee is my full name.

2) I submitted an email to foia@uspis.gov on 6/12/2023; and I demand that this be used as the date for purposes of managing the request.

3) According to the agency's System of Records Notice for the Inspection Service Investigative File System (published in 86 FR 71679), subhead "POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS," records can be retriewved "by name." The agency should therefore be capable of granting a request for records concerning the unique name of "Theodore John Kaczynski."

4) Demands for further specificity by the agency are also contrary to the decision in Government Accountability Project v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 335 F. Supp. 3d 7 - Dist. Court, Dist. of Columbia 2018, where it states "FOIA requests are not a game of Battleship. The requester should not have to score a direct hit on the records sought based on the precise phrasing of his request. Rather, the agency must liberally interpret the request and frame its search accordingly. "

5) Finally, for purposes of providing a postal address is

MuckRock News
DEPT MR 141549
263 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115

My prayer for relief is that the request be granted in full.

-T. McElwee

My full name is T. McElwee. Should it be necessary, you can remove the period.

-TM

If you require more than one letter for the sake of feeling like you have a full name, then you may use the phonetic "Tee McElwee." However, my full name is T. McElwee for purpose of correspondence.

Thank you, and please enjoy the remaining hours of International Non-Binary People's Day.

-T. McElwee