Thornton-Bey v. Administrative Office of the US Courts

• Court: District Court, District of Columbia
• Decided: May 21, 2009
• Docket: Civil Action No. 2009-0958
• Status: Published

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FILED FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA MAY 21 2009 DeJuan B. Thornton-Bey, ) Clerk, U.S. District and ) Bankruptcy Courts Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. O~ U958 ) Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, ) ) Defendant. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION

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 oflnformation 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 ofthe 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.

ka4--- Date: May + 2009 istrict Judge

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