Frost v. DHS, No. 22-2858, 2022 WL 1304534 (S.D.N.Y. May 2, 2022) (Swain, J.)

Frost v. DHS, No. 22-2858, 2022 WL 1304534 (S.D.N.Y. May 2, 2022) (Swain, J.)

Re:  Request for records concerning plaintiff

Disposition:  Granting plaintiff leave to file an amended complaint

• Litigation Considerations, Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies:  "[A] FOIA applicant must exhaust administrative remedies by completing the administrative appeal process."  "The exhaustion requirement allows the targeted agency to correct its own errors, which obviates unnecessary judicial review."  "A FOIA requester is deemed to have exhausted his administrative remedies if he files a timely appeal but the agency does not respond within applicable limits."  "Here, Plaintiff does not provide facts suggesting that he filed an appeal to the head of the agency."  "Rather, he asserts that he submitted his FOIA request directly to the Secretary of DHS and he did not receive a response within 20 days."  "Thus, this court cannot discern from the complaint whether Plaintiff exhausted his administrative remedies."
   
• Litigation Considerations, Pleadings:  "District courts generally should grant a self-represented plaintiff an opportunity to amend a complaint to cure its defects, unless amendment would be futile."  "Because Plaintiff may be able to allege additional facts to state a valid FOIA claim, the Court grants Plaintiff 60 days' leave to amend his complaint to detail his claims."