It485 Final Exam

1. In J. Roderick MacArthur Foundation v. FBI,  pg 326

    a)Explain what the issues were

The head of the J. Roderick MacArthur Foundation,  sued the FBI in federal court for keeping secret records on him, and the foundation's, activities. In a complaint filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Chicago-based foundation's president, Lance E. Lindblom, charged that maintenance of the files is a violation of their constitutional and privacy rights. The FBI has released only a small portion of the records when he requested under the Freedom of Information Act.  The claim is that the FBI violated the Privacy Act, which forbids a government agency from maintaining records on an individual's first amendment activities unless the records are pertinent to and within the scope of an authorized law enforcement activity. Also that information collected may not be kept under the name of the individual when that individual is not the target of the investigation. In addition to monetary damages and an injunction, the parties asked the court to order the FBI to expunge its records concerning them and to refrain from maintaining any such records in the future

    b)How the Court ruled?

The court held that the documents were exempt from release under the FOIA and that the court's review of the documents had shown "that the investigation(s) referred to therein were not of the plaintiffs, but of others with whom the plaintiffs came into incidental contact

 c) Why they decided as they did.?

The courts also disagreed with the fact to expunge records because of there weren't no records it can hurt investigations when done to relate to other cases.  If records collected can be used on a new or re opened case.

2. Identify and describe the Code of Fair Information Practices.  pg 301-303

In the 1960's the use of computers gave rise to the public about privacy, and some expressed opposition to the increasing amount of personal data collected by government agencies...