A journalist who won access to documents on President Ronald Regan's
supposed work as an FBI informant can collect nearly $470,400 in
attorneys' fees, a federal judge ruled.
Seth Rosenfeld, of California, filed three suits against the Department of Justice and FBI in 1990 after they denied his Freedom of Information Act requests for "any and all" FBI records pertaining to the University of California.
He again sued the pair in 1997 over records concerning former President Ronald Reagan "and the individuals who were closely associated with him during the Cold War period."
According to two orders, levied Thursday by U.S. District Judge Edward Chen, Rosenfeld "has written numerous publications about the FBI's activities in connection with the University of California during the Cold War, and the impact those activities had on the 'academic freedom and civil liberties' of American citizens."
The activities in question, Chen added, include the FBI's political surveillance of University of California students and faculty in the 1950s and 1960s, and the agency's attempts to oust Clark Kerr as university president.
In addition, Rosenfeld "claims that Reagan was an FBI informant and that the FBI played an integral role in supporting Reagan's political career," according to the ruling. "Plaintiff seeks information about how the FBI's operations impacted Reagan's political career, his shaping of government policy while governor of California, and the exercise of constitutionally protected activities by American citizens during this time period."
The parties settled the three initial suits in 1996, and the FBI agreed to reprocess and release the documents at issue. Rosenfeld received $560,000 in attorney fees and costs in the settlement, which preserved his "right to seek attorney fees and costs for all work done in these cases, including work done in connection with the fee negotiations ... and all subsequent phases of the litigation."
Read more: http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/10/19/51488.htm
Seth Rosenfeld, of California, filed three suits against the Department of Justice and FBI in 1990 after they denied his Freedom of Information Act requests for "any and all" FBI records pertaining to the University of California.
He again sued the pair in 1997 over records concerning former President Ronald Reagan "and the individuals who were closely associated with him during the Cold War period."
According to two orders, levied Thursday by U.S. District Judge Edward Chen, Rosenfeld "has written numerous publications about the FBI's activities in connection with the University of California during the Cold War, and the impact those activities had on the 'academic freedom and civil liberties' of American citizens."
The activities in question, Chen added, include the FBI's political surveillance of University of California students and faculty in the 1950s and 1960s, and the agency's attempts to oust Clark Kerr as university president.
In addition, Rosenfeld "claims that Reagan was an FBI informant and that the FBI played an integral role in supporting Reagan's political career," according to the ruling. "Plaintiff seeks information about how the FBI's operations impacted Reagan's political career, his shaping of government policy while governor of California, and the exercise of constitutionally protected activities by American citizens during this time period."
The parties settled the three initial suits in 1996, and the FBI agreed to reprocess and release the documents at issue. Rosenfeld received $560,000 in attorney fees and costs in the settlement, which preserved his "right to seek attorney fees and costs for all work done in these cases, including work done in connection with the fee negotiations ... and all subsequent phases of the litigation."
Read more: http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/10/19/51488.htm
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