[Editor’s note: The FBI withheld one name from this cable under the B6 Exemption to the Freedom of Information Act, but revealed it on page two. The deleted information is indicated below in red type.]
Memorandum
Date: 9/25/80
To: Mr. Revell
From: [name deleted] [Mr. Gilbert]
Subject: RYMUR
PURPOSE: To advise of the request of US Attorney (USA) William Hunter, Northern District of California (NDC), San Francisco, California, that the FBI’s RYMUR computer information be provided to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) for inclusion in their JURIS System.
RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. That the FBI’s RYMUR computer information be provided to the DOJ for inclusion into their JURIS System.
2. That the Technical Services Division (TSD) provide their recommendations regarding this request and comment as to converting the RYMUR information to an on-line full text retrieval system for the San Francisco Division.
DETAILS: USA William Hunter, NDC, who is currently directing the prosecutive considerations in regard to RYMUR, has recommended that the FBI’s RYMUR computer information be provided to the DOJ for inclusion into their JURIS System.
The DOJ’s JURIS System is a full text computer retrieval system with retrieval capability at the USA’s Office at San Francisco, California.
[Page 2]
Memo Gilbert to Mr. Revell
Re: RYMUR
The FBI’s RYMUR computer information is not programmed for full text retrieval and is not an on-line system at the San Francisco Division. RYMUR computer information is provided to the San Francisco Division by FBIHQ in hard copy form.
USA Hunter has advise our San Francisco Division that inclusion of the FBI’s RYMUR computer information into DOJ’s JURIS System would enable his office to achieve a timely retrieval of pertinent RYMUR information and would be most valuable in the upcoming prosecution of [Laurence] Lawrence John Layton.
It is our understanding the JURIS System is not a secure system. Furthermore, it may be in violation of the Privacy Act because the JURIS System is not an approved system published in the Federal Register. Because of these considerations, it is CID’s view that RYMUR information should not be included in JURIS. As an alternative, TSD is being asked to comment regarding the conversion of the RYMUR information to an on-line system for the San Francisco Division.
[Page 3]
ADDENDUM: TECHNICAL SERVICES DIVISION (TSD), TW: bjt, 10/15/80
The FBI’s investigative information is maintained within the FBI’s Central Records System (CRS), and the Investigative Support Information System (ISIS) is documented in the Federal Register as a subsystem of the FBI’s CRS. It should be noted that ISIS supports both the retrieval of information from the field office case file(s) and the actual management of the case(s). The ISIS has both an on-line capability with access provided via a terminal and an off-line capability with access provided via sorted printed listings. In view of the fact that on-line resources are limited, the Technical Services Division (TSD) only provides on-line ISIS access when it is cost justified. A cost analysis indicated that on-line support of RYMUR was not justified.
The TSD will provide the San Francisco Field Office with up-to-date listings from the RYMUR ISIS application; however, it must be understood that these listings do not contain full-text data such as the FD-302s.* The TSD will not support the inclusion of ISIS data into JURIS in view of the fact that JURIS does not meet FBI computer and telecommunication security standards.
*In order to have available a full text processing capability, it would be necessary for the Bureau to rekey in their entirety 13,929 serials (as of this date) most of which contain multiple pages. In addition to the formidable task of keying these documents, it would be necessary to create the computer software to effect full text retrieval.