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I WAZZZZ preparing a FOIA request and now wonder what's possible to request,...

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sicksicksick_N_tired Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-25-07 08:13 PM
Original message
I WAZZZZ preparing a FOIA request and now wonder what's possible to request,...
,...under either federal or state law.

The following are the EXEMPTIONS from all FOIA requests (note the differences between protecting people and protecting so-called 'public' servants or the 'government):

(a) The following categories of information are specifically exempt from disclosure under the provisions of this article:
(1) Trade secrets, as used in this section, which may include, but are not limited to, any formula, plan pattern, process, tool, mechanism, compound, procedure, production data, or compilation of information which is not patented which is known only to certain individuals within a commercial concern who are using it to fabricate, produce or compound an article or trade or a service or to locate minerals or other substances, having commercial value, and which gives its users an opportunity to obtain business advantage over competitors;
(2) Information of a personal nature such as that kept in a personal, medical or similar file, if the public disclosure thereof would constitute an unreasonable invasion of privacy, unless the public interest by clear and convincing evidence requires disclosure in the particular instance: Provided, That nothing in this article shall be construed as precluding an individual from inspecting or copying his or her own personal, medical or similar file;
(3) Test questions, scoring keys and other examination data used to administer a licensing examination, examination for employment or academic examination;
(4) Records of law-enforcement agencies that deal with the detection and investigation of crime and the internal records and notations of such law-enforcement agencies which are maintained for internal use in matters relating to law enforcement;
(5) Information specifically exempted from disclosure by statute;
(6) Records, archives, documents or manuscripts describing the location of undeveloped historic, prehistoric, archaeological, paleontological and battlefield sites or constituting gifts to any public body upon which the donor has attached restrictions on usage or the handling of which could irreparably damage such record, archive, document or manuscript;
(7) Information contained in or related to examination, operating or condition reports prepared by, or on behalf of, or for the use of any agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions, except those reports which are by law required to be published in newspapers;
(8) Internal memoranda or letters received or prepared by any public body;
(9) Records assembled, prepared or maintained to prevent, mitigate or respond to terrorist acts or the threat of terrorist acts, the public disclosure of which threaten the public safety or the public health;
(10) Those portions of records containing specific or unique vulnerability assessments or specific or unique response plans, data, databases, and inventories of goods or materials collected or assembled to respond to terrorist acts; and communication codes or deployment plans of law enforcement or emergency response personnel;
(11) Specific intelligence information and specific investigative records dealing with terrorist acts or the threat of a terrorist act shared by and between federal and international law-enforcement agencies, state and local law enforcement and other agencies within the department of military affairs and public safety;
(12) National security records classified under federal executive order and not subject to public disclosure under federal law that are shared by federal agencies, and other records related to national security briefings to assist state and local government with domestic preparedness for acts of terrorism;
(13) Computing, telecommunications and network security records, passwords, security codes or programs used to respond to or plan against acts of terrorism which may be the subject of a terrorist act;
(14) Security or disaster recovery plans, risk assessments, tests, or the results of those tests;
(15) Architectural or infrastructure designs, maps or other records that show the location or layout of the facilities where computing, telecommunications or network infrastructure used to plan against or respond to terrorism are located or planned to be located; and
(16) Codes for facility security systems; or codes for secure applications for such facilities referred to in subdivision (15), subsection (a) of this section.
(b) As used in subdivisions (9) through (16), subsection (a) of this section, the term "terrorist act" means an act that is likely to result in serious bodily injury or damage to property or the environment and is intended to:
(1) Intimidate or coerce the civilian population;
(2) Influence the policy of a branch or level of government by intimidation or coercion;
(3) Affect the conduct of a branch or level of government by intimidation or coercion; or
(4) Retaliate against a branch or level of government for a policy or conduct of the government.
(c) Nothing in the provisions of subdivisions (9) through (16), subsection (a) of this section, should be construed to make subject to the provisions of this chapter any evidence of an immediate threat to public health or safety unrelated to a terrorist act or the threat thereof which comes to the attention of a public entity in the course of conducting a vulnerability assessment response or similar activity.
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Sanity Claws Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-25-07 08:17 PM
Response to Original message
1. Make the request anyway
good luck to you.
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sicksicksick_N_tired Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-25-07 08:37 PM
Response to Reply #1
4. My mere request could be interpreted as an undue influence,....
,...upon the policy of a branch or level of government.

I'm going to make my request.

We'll see what happens with a request about the entity's actions with specific direction to exclude ANY individual's activities.

:shrug:
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Laurier Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-25-07 08:32 PM
Response to Original message
2. What information is it that you're looking for?
It's hard to tell whether it would be exempt under those exceptions without knowing what you're planning on requesting.
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stirlingsliver Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-25-07 08:36 PM
Response to Original message
3. Ask. ASK
Ask for anything.

If it is denied, challenge the denial (agencis must have an appeal procedure.).

You will NEVER get what you do not ask for.
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