>
>The plan is to destroy all records on cases that did not go to trial that
>were filed between 1970 and 1995. For other records, the federal judiciary
>has reduced the current record retention time from 25 to 15 years in an
>effort to cut costs. All cases that went to trial or were filed before 1970
>will be kept.
>

The decision to discard post 1970 records makes no sense- how is it that
these records have any less value than those filed prior to 1970?  In fact,
in many cases, it may be the exact opposite, if the defendants in the
earlier matters are now deceased, or the entities the cases were related to
no longer exist.  

This is like saying "discard all email older than 180 days" or "eliminate
all files on your hard drive once capacity exceeds 350gb" without giving any
regard to the value of the content or assessing it for its contextual or
legal value.  In addition, it may be in direct violation of NARA policy with
regard to retention, which is not based solely on time, but first on content
and description, then time.

I'm also at a loss to understand the decision to reduce the retention period
from 25y to 15y without evaluation of the access patterns or again, the
specific content, the retention period is applied to.

NARA should go back and look at the SF115 that was submitted when the
original retention period of 25y was set for these and review the arguments
made and the research performed to determine the appropriate retention
period at that time PRIOR to entertaining the suggestion for an arbitrary
reduction of the retention period "as a cost saving measure".  There are
other options that could be considered, such as the relocation of these
records to a less expensive storage location, such as a decommissioned
military base or a warehouse at a similar location.  

While these locations may not meet all of the requirements of 36CFR Part
1234, NARA has the option to accept a lower level of protection following an
assessment of the potential risks. ANY level of protection would exceed
arbitrary destruction.

Larry
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