Crandell, III v. NARA, No. 23-1957, 2025 WL 869495 (4th Cir. Mar. 20, 2025) (per curiam)

Crandell, III v. NARA, No. 23-1957, 2025 WL 869495 (4th Cir. Mar. 20, 2025) (per curiam)

Re: Requests for certain court records

Disposition:  Affirming district court’s acceptance of magistrate judge’s grant of government’s motion to dismiss

• Litigation Considerations, Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies:  The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit relates that “[t]he district court dismissed [the requester’s] FOIA claim for two reasons:  (1) [the requester] had not exhausted his administrative remedies; and (2) [the requester] failed to establish that the documents he sought still existed, and he therefore could not show that the defendant agency improperly withheld those documents.”  The court notes that “[the requester] does not contest the district court’s ruling on exhaustion.”  The court finds that “[h]e has thus forfeited appellate review of that ruling.”  “[The court] affirm[s] the district court’s order on that basis, but [the court] modif[ies] the dismissal to be without prejudice.”