The Case of Leonard Peltier | FOIA Requests | Attorney Requests and Appeals | Leonard Peltier

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

FOIA Requests & Responses

FOIA Complaints Filed

FOIA Documents Received

Recent Legal Actions

Leonard Peltier's Legal Team Continues to Pursue Various
Government Agencies to Procure Documents Withheld:

The government still is admittedly withholding approximately 100 thousand more pages of documents, which are being aggressively pursued by the legal team. After attempting for over a year to amicably acquire these documents which are being withheld by various government agencies concerning Leonard's case, Peltier Attorneys Michael Kuzma and Barry Bachrach filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) complaint in the United States District Court for Massachusetts against the Executive Office of United States Attorneys on November 1, 2002 to require them to produce documents being withheld. Michael Kuzma, Barry Bachrach, Bruce Ellison and Carl Nadler have also filed FOIA complaints against the FBI and CIA in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Washington, D.C., respectively.

With respect to the documents sought from the U.S. Attorneys, the legal team will receive documents from the U.S. Attorney's Office from North Dakota on February 6, 2003, as well as additional documents. The legal team has filed motions to require the CIA and FBI to produce so-called Vaughn indices. These indices will require the FBI and CIA to identify the documents being withheld and the reasons for their withholding the documents. A motion is scheduled in the FBI case in Minneapolis for March 4, 2003, to determine whether and how soon the FBI will be required to file a Vaughn Index. We anticipate that these indices will be very revealing and demonstrate what the government has been concealing all these years.

In addition, Barry Bachrach and Michael Kuzma have issued FOIA requests to 35 FBI field offices, which had not previously been served with FOIA requests. The legal team expects to find pertinent information in these documents unless they have not been destroyed or concealed by the agencies.

You Can Help!

The legal team suggests a letter writing campaign to write letters to the editors of local newspapers to help support efforts in acquiring these documents. Click here for more information on this action.

Legal Actions: FOIA Complaints Filed

		A FOIA Complaint was Filed Friday, Nov. 15, 2002 in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota against the FBI.
		On Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2002, a FOIA Complaint was filed in Washington, DC against the CIA.
		Another FOIA Complaint Filed Friday, Nov. 1, 2002 in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts against Executive Office of United States Attorneys (EOUSA).

FOIA Requests, Responses and Appeals

In August and October of last year and January and April of this year, Michael Kuzma, Esq. sent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests on behalf of Mr. Leonard Peltier to various field offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”). The field offices forwarded these requests to the FBI Headquarters and they were assigned number 949659-001. Thereafter, Mr. Loren Shaver, Paralegal Supervisor, FBI, contacted counsel for Mr. Peltier to discuss these FOIA requests. Mr. Shaver asserted that there were too many documents to produce and registered several other untenable reasons for not complying with the requests. The parties were unable to resolve the issues. In response to requests, the FBI submitted to Mr. Kuzma a 16-page summary on August 2, 2002 and a one-page summary on August 23, 2002. We are treating this response by the FBI as a denial of Mr. Peltier’s FOIA requests to produce documents and this letter, therefore, serves as an appeal of the FBI’s refusal to produce the requested documents. The grounds for this appeal are [stipulated]. [See FOIA Appeal to U.S. Department of Justice for details.]

	Subject of Correspondence	Date
FBI Objects to Request for Hearing	Letter from U.S. Department of Justice to the Honorable Susan Richard Nelson, U.S. District Court, St. Paul, MN. Regarding Leonard Peltier v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Civil Action No. 02-4328 (DWF/SRN), objecting to Plaintiff's request for hearing and list of issues	May 22, 2003
Peltier Attorney Confirmation of Hearing Date	Letter from Peltier Attorney, Barry Bachrach, to the Honorable Susan Richard Nelson, U.S. District Court, St. Paul, MN. Regarding Leonard Peltier v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Civil Action No. 02-4328 (DWF/SRN), confirming a Hearing Date of June 12, 2003 (3:30 PM), that is a continuation of the Hearing held March 4, 2003.	May 20, 2003
Response Appeal Denial	FOIA Denial of Appeal from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Information and Privacy to Peltier Attoney, Michael Kuzma, regarding failure of FBI Buffalo Field Office to respond to request for access to records concerning Leonard Peltier.	May 19, 2003
Declaration	Declaration - From U.S. Department of Justice to the Honorable Susan Richard Nelson, U.S. District Court, St. Paul, MN. Regarding Leonard Peltier v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Civil Action No. 02-4328 (DWF/SRN) (Posted 5-25-03)	Mar 20, 2003
Letter Regarding Declaration	Letter Regarding Declaration - From U.S. Department of Justice to the Honorable Susan Richard Nelson, U.S. District Court, St. Paul, MN. Regarding Leonard Peltier v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Civil Action No. 02-4328 (DWF/SRN) *(Posted 5-25-03)*	Mar 20, 2003
Response	National Archives Response on Status of Allegation Regarding Destruction of FBI Field Office Files Relating to Leonard Peltier (Web Posted 5-25-03)	Feb 20, 2003
Response	New York City: FBI Response to FOIA Request	Dec 18, 2002
Response	Jacksonville, FL: FBI Response to FOIA Request	Dec 16, 2002
Response	Sacramento: FBI Response to FOIA Request	Dec 13, 2002
Response	Houston: FBI Response to FOIA Request	Dec 4, 2002
Response	Anchorage: FBI Response to FOIA Request	Nov 26, 2002
Response	U.S. Department of Justice, United States Parole Commission Response to FOIA Request	Nov 13, 2002
Appeal Denial	FOIA Denial of Appeal from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Information and Privacy	Oct 17, 2002
Response	U.S. Department of Justice, FBI - Washington, D.C., Response to FOIA Requests from Field Offices	Oct 1, 2002
Appeal	FOIA Appeal to U.S. Department of Justice RE: FBI Request # 949659-001	Sept 19, 2002
Request	Special Request to FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. that a Directive is Issued to All Field Offices to Place a Moratorium on Destruction of Records Related to the Case of Leonard Peltier	Sept 10, 2002
Response	Pittsburgh, PA: FBI Response to FOIA Request	Apr 26, 2002
Response	National Security Agency, Central Security Service Response to FOIA Request Regarding PA Case: 41156	Jan 16, 2002
Response	Chicago: FBI Response to FOIA Request	Dec 27, 2001
Response	National Reconnaissance Office Response to FOIA Request	Dec 12, 2001
Response	Office of Attorney General - Pierre, South Dakota - Response to FOIA Request	Feb 12, 2001

A FOIA REQUEST resulted in the release of full audio tapes and documents from the July 9, 2002 Statutory Interim Parole Board Hearing for Leonard Peltier (Leavenworth, Ks)

Audio Recording: 2002 Parole Hearing

Click here to view documents and to listen to audio clips from the Statutory Interim Parole Board Hearing

FOIA Documents Recently Received

Issued	Type	Document	Subject	Declassification
8-27-73 Posted 5-15-03		United States Government Memorandum (3 Pages)	American Indian Movement (AIM) Extremist Matter	1-23-84
8-28-73 Posted 5-15-03		U.S. Gov't Memorandum to the FBI Director from Wm. D. Ruckelshaus, Acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General (2 Pages)	Activities of the FBI concerning the Wounded Knee Legal Defense/Offense Committee Facilities, Rapid City, South Dakota	?
8-30-73 Posted 5-15-03		AIRTEL Communication to FBI Director from SAC, Minneapolis (7 Pages)	Activities of the FBI concerning the Wounded Knee Legal Defense/Offense Committee Facilities, Rapid City, South Dakota	8-8-84
7-2-75 Posted 4-30-03		Memorandum from W.R. Wannall to Mr. J.B. Adams	Supervisor Richard W. Held; IS-1 Section, Intelligence Division: Availability of Informants	1-10-95
7-16-75 Posted 4-30-03		Urgent Fugitive Alert	Leonard Peltier, AKA - Fugitive; Frank Black Horse, AKA - Fugitive: Fugitive subjects are prime suspects in RESMURS investigation.	9-6-79