U.S. Marshals Service
Office of General Counsel
Washington, D.C., 20530-0001

March 23, 2018

Dear Ms. Wassom:

This letter constitutes a request under the Freedom of Information Act regarding activity of the U.S. Marshals Service. It is being submitted on behalf of Fix the Court, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocates for greater openness and accountability in the federal judiciary.

The request seeks the following information:
1. All documents, including memoranda and correspondence, that contain information on the trips outside of Washington, D.C., on which members of the U.S. Marshals Service accompanied U.S. Supreme Court justices between Jan. 1, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2017, including:
– The name of the justice who took each trip and the dates of each trip;
– The location, either U.S. or foreign city or airport, from which and to which that justice traveled; and
– The cost to the USMS for accompanying the justices on each of these trips.

2. All documents, including memoranda and correspondence, that contain information on all FY16 and FY17 reimbursements, including dates in which the payments were made and the dollar amounts for each, from the judicial branch to the U.S. Marshals Service for:
– Perimeter security at U.S. courthouses;
– Security of U.S. magistrate, district and circuit judges;
– Security for U.S. Supreme Court justices in Washington, D.C.; and
– Security for U.S. Supreme Court justices outside of Washington, D.C.

To be clear, the second part of this request (number 2) seeks to understand the payments made to the U.S. Marshals Service for security in and of the judicial branch during those two fiscal years, and any documents that outline this information will be sufficient to satisfy the request. Like our previous FOIA request from June 2016, we do not seek any proprietary information about security procedures or protocols.

Additionally, if the FY17 numbers referred to above are not yet available, please send documents for FY16 at the first available moment and then supplement them with the FY17 numbers when they become available.

I am willing to pay any fees associated with this matter up to $250. If you estimate that the fees will exceed this limit, please inform me first. Thank you for your attention to this request.

Sincerely,
Gabe Roth
Fix the Court executive director