Group further questions reasonableness of electronic search 3/25/2000
Written by Wiggz...also known as the AlienZoo prohibitor of dullness.
In its ongoing case against the Department of Defense (DoD), Citizens Against UFO Secrecy (CAUS) on Thursday sent written rebuttal to Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard G. Patrick, claiming that the DoD did not conduct a reasonable document search.
Link:View rebuttal on CAUS's site
The written submission was the next necessary step in CAUS.s case, Citizens Against UFO Secrecy v. Department of Defense. U.S. District Court Judge Stephen M. McNamee has already ruled that he would not entertain any further oral argument in the lawsuit.
CAUS sued the DoD last year, claiming that the agency did not perform an adequate search for information regarding a flying triangle seen throughout the U.S. over the last 20 years. The DoD performed an electronic search for information in response to a 1998 CAUS Freedom of Information Act request. CAUS believes the agency took shortcuts in its document retrieval effort by looking for typical UFO information, not things that relate specifically to a flying triangle.
In his response, CAUS Executive Director Peter A. Gersten argued that the agency used keywords that were irrelevant to what he was searching for. He disputed the DoD.s use of terms such as .spacecraft,. .alien craft,. and .flying saucer,. for Gersten asked for information related to a triangular, not saucer-shaped, object.
Gersten writes, .Further, it is important to know whether the keywords were used in an .and. or in an .or. context. Since the Court has not been provided with either the parameters, methods or results of the computerized search, it would appear difficult, if not impossible, to decide the effect of generalized, (.large,. .red,. .football field,. .house,. etc.) misleading (.alien craft,. .spacecraft.) and incorrect (flying saucer.) keywords on the Defendant's ability to access responsive records..