CREW v. NARA, Adrienne Thomas (Acting Archivist): Regarding Failure to Fulfill Federal Records Act Duties

On June 1st, 2009, CREW filed a complaint against the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and Acting Archivist Adrienne Thomas, based on their failure to fulfill their mandatory duties under the Federal Records Act (FRA) to conduct inspections of agency records and records management programs and practices of federal agencies. In a series of reports issued during the past seven years, the U.S. Government Accountability Office has identified this failure as a critical reason why agencies are not consistently preserving their email records, as the FRA requires. NARA and the archivist have ignored these findings and ignored the unambiguous mandate in the FRA directing them to conduct inspections or surveys. CREW seeks a declaratory judgment that NARA and the archivist are in violation of the FRA and a writ of mandamus compelling them to comply with their non-discretionary duties under the FRA.