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FBI Ordered to Turn Over Lennon Files
CatDogLordOfTheRoot writes "CNN is reporting
that a U.S. District Judge rejected the governments arguements to keep the secret records of John Lennon sealed. The FBI argued that releasing the last ten pages would pose a risk to national security as a foreign government (not identified) secretly gave information to the US Government. Looks like another big step in the Freedom of Information Act."
Looks like another big step in the Freedom of Information Act
Imagine!
I look forward to reading the released documents. I believe a 'Sargeant Pepper' may be the foreign national in question, and I think it's high time he produce answers.
Most of the time information becomes public anyway. There is no need for a LAW to do this.
the walrus was Paul.
"after a certain period of time (like copyright expiration"
From the way copyright law is going, that's going to be about 435 years.
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
And you will have to fight for the information that US security and intelligence agencies have accumulated on you.
The problem with the USA Patriot Act is that it has an unintended consequence: While working under the guise of gathering information on terrorists (a good thing) a great deal more information is gathered on innocent individuals (a bad thing).
Now before people start waving their arms around with "You've got nothing to worry about unless you've got something to hide", keep in mind that information can always be used for purposes other than stopping terrorism. Information can be used for political reasons as well.
That is the problem with the USA Patriot Act. You will never know what information has been gathered on you, and you will never know if some *legal* activity, such as belonging to a political organization, will become a problem for you or your family in the future.
Lennon may not have been right, he may have created political problems for the Nixon Administration, but he did everything in the open and legally.
Look where it got him.
"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
Here are the exemptionsexemptions.
I'm reading up on the FBI files on the JFK assassination atm... oh, wait.
or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?
Why oh WHY are records sealed regarding, in essense, a celebrity civilian who's been dead for almost 24 years now?
I mean I had my own conspiracy theory that it was due to the Reagan administration taking office, or a Manchurian Candidate situation, but hasn't the FBI figured out that hiding documents on cold cases long out of date only adds to the suspicion?
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
They are not unintended consequences, they are deliberate. It will make it easier for those in power to stay in power and help keep 'undesirables' out of power.
Screw that! Do NOT under any circumstance listen to the Audio Weapon she calls 'singings'.
Death, or worse a love of techno, may result.
Instant Karma
You've got to be kidding. The whole reason we have these problems is because of secrecy. We must hold our government accountable for its actions. The only way to ensure that is to know what, when, where, why, and how it takes action. There is no "them" and "us". The government is an extention of "the people", and should act on our behalf. We must ensure that it does. Freedom requires dilegence. And action
There are in fact declassification procedures for all U.S. classified documents that state specific declassification timeframes. The declassification time is specified for the specific document or information. 50 years is very common.
The government often has very legitimate reasons for keeping documents under wraps. For instance if Yoko Ono were passing information from North Korea with the knowledge of the local government China may not look favorably upon it and it could cause more than a little tension.
Four plus four equals 2,137.
It is certainly true that the FBI were *very* interested in Lennon, especially during his "Marxist" phase, circa "Some Time in New York City". According to John Wiener ("Lennon vs the FBI" in Thomson and Gutman's "Lennon Companion") there is a 288 page file on Lennon in the FBIs "domestic security" section, of which 199 pages are still classfied "in the interests of defence of foregin policy", and thousands of pages in the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
This had nothing to do with his death. The FBI followed John Lennon because he had his own opinion of the war in Vietnam. So President Nixon had the FBI treat him like a national security risk.
Sounds just like the current Administration.
Wow, I can't believe people are so selfish that they'd risk the U.S.'s relations with another country just so they, and _possibly_ others, can see what happened. If the FBI wants documents classified, the FBI has a good reason. I don't want another 9/11 in the U.S. or a foreign country just because people want to see some documents.
Right, and by that logic, let's just suspend Habeus because it might make us safer too....
No, judicial and legal principles, and the framework of liberty is more important than any single action that the government does purportedly in the interest of the people. Otherwise we lose *all* our liberty.
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
The US government may be nervous about these documents due to the early Beatles stint in Germany. Could it be possible that the East German secret police, who almost certainly had informers throughout West Germany, may have passed on information at the request of the United States? Just imagine how embarrassing it would be for people to know that the US government were in cahoots at one time with possibly the most notorious policing force ever created.
This is linked to the recent Cat Stevens deportation. What nobody picked up on is that he came to the US to meet with an RIAA attorney. According to insiders, FBI agents stole the Cat Stevens-John Lennon tapes in 1980 from Lennons apartment. When the unsuspecting Lennon showed up, he had to be distracted by drugged stoolie Mark Chapman as evasive action. Chapman went 'roidal and agents left out the back door with the material. If these secret documents are released, the RIAA will sue the FBI for millions for illegally obtaining and withholding copyrighted material and easily win. I can see why the Government is being this protective.