Date: 12 Mar 92 22:28:35 EST
From: Gordon Meyer <72307.1502@COMPUSERVE.COM>
Subject: File 6--Sun Devil FOIA Ruling (CPSR suit)

U.S.. District Judge Thomas Hogan today upheld the decision of the
Secret Service to withhold from public disclosure search warrant
materials associated with the agency's controversial Operation Sun
Devil investigation.  Ruling from the bench in a Freedom of
Information Act lawsuit filed in Washington by Computer Professionals
for Social Responsibility (CPSR), the judge accepted the government's
contention that release of the requested documents would interfere
with the Secret Service's ongoing investigation of alleged computer
crime.

CPSR had argued that disclosure of the documents -- search warrant
applications, executed warrants and inventories of seized property --
would not hamper legitimate law enforcement interests.  The Sun Devil
raids were conducted in May 1990 in 13 cities across the country and
have not, to date, resulted in any indictments.  Similar documents are
routinely available from judicial clerks' offices and are considered
to be public records.

While noting that the government has not alleged a conspiracy in the
Sun Devil investigation, the judge ruled that the requested documents,
when viewed in the aggregate, might reveal heretofore undisclosed
aspects of the investigation and hamper the government's efforts.
Such a "compilation" of information, according to the judge, would be
likely to interfere with the investigation -- the standard the
government must meet to justify the withholding of law enforcement
records under the FOIA.

CPSR plans to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia.

David L. Sobel,
CPSR Legal Counsel
dsobel@washofc.cpsr.org


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