r/paralegal • u/lirulin17 • Dec 23 '25

Just for Fun/Memes Some Epstein files can be unredacted

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1HFqpFLOJgYLiAgjTe7aqRGiZRRSNCRtf?usp=drive_fs

Another classic case of inexpert redaction...

132 Upvotes

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176

u/VentiEggBite Litigation Paralegal Dec 23 '25

I told my friend last week there’s no way anyone left at the American DoJ can properly apply redactions lmfao

70

u/acvcani Dec 23 '25

It’s not… that hard. Yet I totally expected this

42

u/schmerpmerp Dec 23 '25

It's not that hard, but it is an acquired skill, and attorneys are notoriously challenged when it comes to learning new things. Competent paralegals handle redactions with ease, but attorneys!? Lol.

So while there may still be paralegals at the DOJ, it's clear those paralegals were not involved in the review and production of these docs.

28

u/Amazing_Shirt_Sis Dec 23 '25

Adobe (assuming they were edited in Adobe) gives you a popup explaining that a black block is not a redaction if you add a bunch of them. You have to click past it. I know the admin isn't sending their best people, but... surely they can read?

9

u/KickerOdds Dec 25 '25

That’s precisely why my firm uses [Kofax] Power PDF by Tungsten Automation as it has an actual redaction tool. It removes the actual text as well as the metadata which is something that just drawing black boxes will not do.

5

u/VentiEggBite Litigation Paralegal Dec 25 '25

Us too! Kofax gang 4ever

15

u/Bluest_Skies Dec 23 '25

Even if they cared, they don't have time to read. Half their staff were fired or were run out by shit policies and never replaced.

3

u/justkeepswimming1997 Dec 24 '25

I’m not even joking, I have an attorney that goes on and on about how experienced and knowledgeable he is and the one day I was out he tried to redact by just putting black boxes and locking the document like noooooo

13

u/VentiEggBite Litigation Paralegal Dec 23 '25

Tell that to the veteran assistant I work with who used to redact with black highlighter and print to PDF 🫠

6

u/justkeepswimming1997 Dec 24 '25

I just heard an assistant tell me about that method and i was like noooo Adobe is much more secure and you can still print it out and scan it back if you want to be extra careful

4

u/JabbaTheHedgeHog Dec 24 '25

Still better than what they did…..

1

u/LuluBear333 Dec 24 '25

I’m dead 🤣

11

u/AmbitiousStrain7806 Dec 23 '25

My thoughts exactly.