California judge orders FBI to turn over more files to Rosenfeld

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U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled on Wednesday for the FBI and Department of Justice to turn over more files about the FBI's investigations regarding Ronald Regan between 1957 and 1976.  According to Court documents, and his own website,  Mr. Rosenfeld is a journalist who has investigated the FBI's dealings withs communist investigations during the cold war for nearly twenty years.

Mr. Rosenfeld argues that a series of memoranda the FBI produced about Ronald Regan show that documents exist which the FBI did not consider releasing or provide a reason as to why they were not released.  Judge Patel ordered the FBI to review and release those documents in the summary memoranda.

Next, Mr. Rosenfeld argued that the FBI did not search enough databases for records.  The FBI explained that it found the records irrelevant and therefore did not examine them.  Judge Patel was not satisfied.  She ruled that both parties must review thirty randomly chosen documents from those not released to determine if the search for documents was adequate.  If not, the FBI must redo the search.

Some of the information was released and then redacted.  Judge Patel ordered the release of the name of one of Regan's associates who had a connection to the son of an organized crime figure.  Similarly, the FBI must release the name of a correspondent between the FBI and a Navy Admiral who opposed the release of the movie Seven Days in May.

The case is Rosenfeld v. U.S. D.O.J. No. C 07-3240 and the opinion is below the jump.


Here is the opinion:
Rosenfeld v. DOJ