Christian v. Secretary of the Army

• Court: District Court, District of Columbia
• Decided: January 31, 2011
• Docket: Civil Action No. 2011-0276
• Status: Published

Opinion

FILED

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT ]AN 3 \ ‘ZQ\\ FOR 'I`HE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA . . n\quptcy c\ar\<. u.s&?'\§§;°,:\:`¢i>i co\umn\a t \’ I)avid P. chris¢ian, ) °°“"° °

) Plaintiff, ' ) )

v. ) Civi1Action No. 6 ) Secretary of the Army et al., ) ) Defendants. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

This matter is before the Court on its initial review of plaintiff s pro se Petition for a Writ of Mandamus and application to proceed in forma pauperis. Plaintiff, a homeless individual in Montrose, Colorado, seeks to correct his military records via a writ of mandamus or a declaratory judgrnent. See Pet. at l. The Court may not entertain an action for those extraordinary remedies if another adequate remedy is available. See, e.g., Mittleman v. United States Dep 't. of T reasu)y, 919 F. Supp. 461, 470 (D.D.C. l995), modified on other grounds, 104 F.3d 410 (D.C. Cir. 1997) (in exercising its discretion under the Declaratory Judgment Act, the district court should consider, inter alia, the availability of other remedies); Swan v. Clint0n, 100 F.3d 973, 977 n.l (D.C. Cir. 1996) (mandamus relief is unavailable if, inter alia, another adequate remedy exists). The Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, provides an adequate remedy for addressing plaintiffs claims. Accordingly, it is thi day of January 201 l,

ORDERED that the petition for a writ of mandamus is DENIED, and is hereafter construed as a Civil Complaint; it is

FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk shall file this action as brought under the Privacy

Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, and randomly assign it to a district judge; it is

\`»

FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiffs motion to use a P.O. Box address is

GRANTED; and it is

FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiffs motion for leave to

GRANTED.

in forma pauperis is

Uniied States District Judge