Thornton-Bey v. Administrative Office of U.S. Courts

Full title: DeJuan B. Thornton-Bey, Plaintiff, v. Administrative Office of the U.S…

Court: United States District Court, D. Columbia

Date published: May 7, 2009

Civil Action No. 09 0958 (D.D.C. May. 7, 2009)

Opinion

Civil Action No. 09 0958.

May 7, 2009

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ROSEMARY COLLYER, District Judge

This matter is before the Court on review of plaintiff's pro se complaint and application to proceed in forma pauperis. The application will be granted and the complaint will be dismissed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A (requiring dismissal of a prisoner's complaint upon a determination that the complaint, among other grounds, fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted).

Plaintiff is a prisoner at the United States Penitentiary in Florence, Colorado, suing the Administrative Office of the United States Courts ("A.O.") for the release of a document pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), 5 U.S.C. § 552. The FOIA applies only to executive-branch agencies of the United States. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(f) (defining agency as "defined in section 551(1)," which specifically excludes "the courts of the United States"). The A.O. is part of the judicial branch of the federal government. See 28 U.S.C. § 601 ("Director and a Deputy Director [are] appointed and subject to removal by the Chief Justice of the United States, after consulting with the Judicial Conference."). The complaint therefore fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. A separate Order of dismissal accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.