Imagine workers in the FOIA offices trying to entertain a motion from a delusional & psychotic woman in Salt Lake City, Utah demanding records regarding her birthplace in a non-existent city in Utah.

Maybe Schwarz would have better luck claiming Peter Pan was her father and deamnding records on Never-Never Land.

Case No. VFA-0641, 28 DOE ¶ 80,140 January 24, 2001

DECISION AND ORDER

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Appeal

Name of Appellant: Barbara Schwarz

Date of Filing: December 22, 2000

Case Number: VFA-0641

Barbara Schwarz filed this Appeal from a determination issued by the Department of Energy (DOE) Headquarters Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Division (FOI/PA). This determination responded to a request for information filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, as implemented by the Department of Energy (DOE) in 10 C.F.R. Part 1004.

I. Background Schwarz sent a letter to the Office of Hearings and Appeals, dated March 22, 2000, that contained both an appeal of an earlier FOIA determination, and a request for additional material under the FOIA. We issued a Decision and Order with respect to the appeal portion of the letter, designated Case No. VFA-0567, in Barbara Schwarz, 27 DOE ¶ 80,273 (2000).

The request portion of Schwarz's letter was forwarded to the FOI/PA for processing pursuant to the FOIA. In a Determination Letter dated December 4, 2000, FOI/PA stated that it was providing Schwarz with documents responsive to some of her requests, and informed her that no responsive documents were located for her other requests. Schwarz then filed this appeal, challenging the adequacy of the search for responsive documents, a lack of response to a request for a fee waiver, and a failure to provide a "search declaration."

II. Analysis A. Adequacy of Search

Schwarz claims that the search for responsive records was inadequate because she was not provided with two categories of

records. The first category consists of records pertaining to a civil suit in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, Case No. 00-1610-HHK, which Schwarz says she filed against the Department of Energy. The second category consists of records that Schwarz describes as pertaining to "a town or village with name Chattanooga in Utah (Note: not Tennessee)."

Neither the civil case nor the town of Chattanooga, Utah, are mentioned in Schwarz's request letter. Furthermore, no reasonable interpretation of Schwarz's request letter would suggest that records pertaining to the civil case or to Chattanooga, Utah would be responsive to her request. An appellant may not use the appeal process to expand the scope of a FOIA request. F.A.C.T.S., 26 DOE ¶ 80,132 (1996); Energy Research Foundation, 22 DOE ¶ 80,114 (1992); Cox Newspapers, 22 DOE ¶ 80,106 (1992); Bernard Hanft, 21 DOE ¶ 80,134 (1991); John M. Seehaus, 21 DOE ¶ 80,135 (1991).

We will therefore deny this portion of Schwarz's appeal.

http://www.oha.doe.gov/cases/foia/vfa0641.htm

Go Back