Herbert Marcuse

To Whom It May Concern:

You are receiving this correspondence as a request under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. subsection 552. I am requesting the following:

Copies of all records, documents, and communications responsive to Bureau file numbers 77-1327 and 77-27880, for one Mr. Herbert Marcuse (July 19, 1898 – July 29, 1979). Mr. Marcuse was a professor of philosophy at Brandeis University and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and a leading figure in the New Left, a left-wing political movement of the 1960s, such that he was sometimes referred to as the "Father of the New Left." Between the years 1943 and 1976, the Federal Bureau of Investigation monitored Mr. Marcuse's political activities, both independently and as part of counterintelligence programs (COINTELPRO) targeting the New Left. In one instance, the Bureau investigated a death threat received by Mr. Marcuse, on July 1, 1968. Bureau records in its COINTELPRO New Left file for its San Diego field office (100-449698-46) indicate the Bureau was concurrently running an anonymous letter campaign attacking Mr. Marcuse, surreptitiously mailing letters to UCSD posing as concerned parents. This campaign was temporarily suspended upon acknowledgement of the threat. Given the Bureau's involvement in an investigation involving Mr. Marcuse, a figure whose political liberties it had sought to repress, it is in the public's interest in seeing the release of Mr. Marcuse's file, to better understand how the Bureau handled investigations of such figures.

I am requesting all responsive records. Prior requests have yielded returns of varying sizes. The endnotes to Stephen Gennaro's and Douglas Kellner's article "Under Surveillance: Herbert Marcuse and the FBI", published in 2009 by Emerald Publishing in volume 26 of Current Perspectives in Social Theory, state that the Bureau, at that time, listed Mr. Marcuse's file as containing 518 pages, but that a larger file of unspecified size was released to Mr. Gennaro upon request. The following year, in a blog post published to the UCSD Philosophy Department's website, attached, researcher Lance Winsaft stated the Bureau released a file containing 607 pages to UCSD. I am requesting all records previously released and any additional that have not yet been released.

There is no expectation of a violation of Mr. Marcuse's privacy, as he passed away in 1979. Privacy rights are not extended to deceased persons. I have attached a reproduction of Mr. Macuse's obituary, taken from the The New York Times, as verification. As this is information the Bureau has released to other parties, there should be no further concerns over making this information public.

I am asking you waive any fees associated with this request. I am a member of the news media, with bylines including Covert Action Magazine, Janata Weekly, and Philly Voice. Please take note of the Office of Management and Budget guidelines published March 27, 1987 (52 FR 10012) that include electronic publications and other nontraditional publishers as representatives of the news media.

This request is not being made for commercial purposes. All documents will be provided to the general public without charge.

In the event that there are fees, I am willing to pay up to $100. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

I look forward to your response within 20 working days, as the statute requires. If access to the records I am requesting will take longer, please contact me with information about when I might expect copies or the ability to inspect the requested records.

If you deny any or all of this request, please cite each specific exemption you feel justifies the refusal to release the information and notify me of the appeal procedures available to me under the law.

Sincerely,

Robert Skvarla, Jr.