Foia Request For Public Records: Fill & Download for Free

A threat against a presidential candidate under the protection of the Secret Service would be regarded as a matter of national security. I doubt that records like that would be disclosed under a FOIA request. If any such record was disclosed, it would be so heavily redacted that it would contain no useful information.

Because Americans insist on transparency from their government. Imagine how much corruption and horror could occur if the judicial system could make secret arrests. People could just disappear and the Fourth Estate could not demand proof of their status.The justice system is obviously not pure; there is corruption. But as a general statement, Americans can go about their day confident that if the government were to arrest them and take them off the street, there would be a public record. Their families would be able to locate them. Their lawyers would be able to obtain documentation of each stage of the process.An open system allows the press and individual researchers to monitor activities of the judicial system. It allows prejudice to be exposed. It also holds the police and prosecutors feet to the fire. Public records of arrests make it easier to detect false arrests. Once the police have put the record out there that they have arrested someone, we expect further notice that they had good reason. If the police are making too many false arrests, public records will embarrass them into correcting their behavior. So, while publication of false arrest is embarrassing for the arrestee, it also becomes embarrassing for the arrester.In America, there is actually very little governmental documentation that is not available. Even if the government doesn't voluntarily put it out there on the web, an individual can file a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request to get that information. That request is a paperwork annoyance for the department being queried. It makes their lives easier to just put the information out there.

Cops wouldn't use a subpoena to obtain records from Facebook; they would use a warrant. Warrants are generally not public records, although you could likely attempt to file a FOIA request, as they are records held by a government agency.A subpoena would be something that either the prosecutor or defense attorney, or the private attorneys in a civil matter, would use to request documents from Facebook. If they became part of the court record, then they would be public documents, but typically subpoenas are private communications between attorneys.