May, supra; and Varona Pacheco v. F.B.I., et al., 456 F.Supp. 1024 (D. Puerto Rico 1978). Our proposal also would eliminate the requirement that the information be furnished "only" by the confidential source before it may be protected. Striking the word "only" would preclude the possibility of a successful demand the information must be released because the same information was furnished by two or more confidential sources. Moratorium The Act should include a moratorium provision. The requester who has as his purpose identifying FBI sources can review an FBI release while names, dates, places and relationships are relatively fresh in his mind. That recollection, undimmed by the passage of time, is of no small aid to the individual endeavoring to identify a confidential source by subjecting an FBI release to a detailed analysis. We propose we not be required to release law enforcement records pertaining to a law enforcement investigation for seven years after termination of the investigation without prosecution or seven years after prosecution. We will not use the moratorium provision in concert with a file destruction program to frustrate the Freedom of Information Act. Because some investigations are ongoing for extended periods, records pertaining to them could be withheld for a long time. Since our proposal is worded to permit, not prohibit, our releasing information during the moratorium, we will be able to and we shall work with the Department of Justice to formulate a policy for access to records of public interest and to information pertaining to protracted investigations. Physical Safety Exemption (b) (7) (F) permits the FBI to withhold information which would endanger the life or physical safety of law enforcement personnel. Our proposal would permit protecting the life or physical safety of any natural person. - 33 PUBLIC RECORDS Existing Law Subsection 552 (b), after itemizing those matters to which the Act does not apply, reads, "Any reasonably segregable portion of a record shall be provided to any person requesting such record after deletion of the portions which are exempt under this subsection." Observations This provision prevents an agency from withholding an entire document when only a portion of it is exempt. It necessitates our making a line-by-line review of records to determine if any portion should be released. Such a review requires a great deal of effort and expense with very little corresponding benefit to the requester in some cases, especially those involving requests for records pertaining to ongoing investigations. Proposal We propose the last sentence of subsection 552 (b) "Any reasonably segregable portion of record after deletion of the portions which Commentary Exemption (b)(7) (A) allows an agency to with hold investigatory records compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that their release would interfere with enforcement proceedings. The FBI uses this exemption most often in responding to requests for records about pending, ongoing investigations. Of course, the (b)(7) (A) exemption, like all others, must be applied with the reasonably segregable clause in mind. The General Accounting Office concluded, "As a result requesters would probably not receive any information they were not already aware of, while the agency would have devoted many useless hours deciding what information could be released." "Timeliness and Completeness of FBI Responses to Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts Requests Have Improved," page 57 of a Report to the Congress by the Comptroller General of the United States, April 10, 1978. |