No. 22-7394

Mike Webb v. Department of the Army, et al.

Lower Court: District of Columbia
Docketed: 2023-04-28
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: administrative-law administrative-remedies agency-discretion agency-response civil-procedure due-process fifth-amendment foia foia-request privacy-act pro-se-litigation standing
Latest Conference: 2023-06-22
Question Presented (from Petition)

I. Whether, given "the accepted rule that a complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief ', as articulated in Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41 (1957), it constitutes a violation of due process, under the Fifth Amendment, when an agency fails to respond, in any manner, to a request for documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA ), 5 U.S.C. § 552/Privacy Act (PA), 5 U.S.C. § 552a.

II. Whether, under Fed.R.Civ.Pro. 8, the guidance that "all the Rules require is 'a short and plain statement of the claim ' [footnote omitted] that will give the defendant fair notice of what the plaintiffs claim is and the grounds upon which it rests ", Id. (citing Fed.R.Civ.Pro. 8(a)(2)), imposes a limit upon the extent to which an unrepresented plaintiff may articulate allegations in his or her claim.

III. Whether a Trial Court, in abuse of discretion, offends Fed.R.Civ.Pro. 8(f)'s mandate that "all pleadings shall be so construed as to do substantial justice, " where, granted priority of action, under statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1657, and where granted a specific right to "to enjoin the agency from withholding agency records and to order the production of any agency records improperly withheld from the complainant ", 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B), having been acknowledged to have been "deemed to have exhausted his administrative remedies with respect to such request if the agency fails to comply with the applicable time limit provisions of this paragraph ", 5 U.S.C. § 552 (6)(C)(i), by dismissing said complaint.

IV. Whether, under Fed.R.Crim.Pro. 6(a), which provides, in relevant part that "the court must order that one or more grand juries be summoned ", it is sufficiently in the public interest, where a court is presented a prima facie case for commission of a felony, precluding prosecutorial discretion.

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the failure of an agency to respond to a FOIA request violates due process

Docket Entries

2023-09-07
Case considered closed.
2023-06-26
The motion of petitioner for leave to proceed in forma pauperis is denied. Petitioner is allowed until July 17, 2023, within which to pay the docketing fee required by Rule 38(a) and to submit a petition in compliance with Rule 33.1 of the Rules of this Court.
2023-06-07
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/22/2023.
2023-05-30
Waiver of right of respondent Department of the Army, et al. to respond filed.
2023-04-06
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due May 30, 2023)

Attorneys

Department of the Army, et al.
Elizabeth B. PrelogarSolicitor General, Respondent
Mike Webb
Mike Webb — Petitioner