Martinez v. Admin. Off. of the U.S. Courts, No. 22-50227, 2023 WL 2474218 (5th Cir. Mar. 13, 2023) (per curiam)

Martinez v. Admin. Off. of the U.S. Courts, No. 22-50227, 2023 WL 2474218 (5th Cir. Mar. 13, 2023) (per curiam)

Re:  Request for records concerning requester’s criminal trial

Disposition:  Affirming district court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint

• Procedural Requirements, Entities Subject to the FOIA:  The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit holds that “[the requester] does not disclaim the allegation in his initial complaint that he submitted a FOIA request to the [Administrative Office of the United States Courts (“AOUSC”)]; rather, he readily admits that he ‘intentionally omitted’ this detail from his amended complaint to ‘circumvent’ the reasoning used by the district court in its original dismissal order.”  “After screening the amended complaint, the district court dismissed it with prejudice . . . for the same reason that it dismissed his original complaint: the court explained that the AOUSC is not subject to FOIA . . . .”  “Because the AOUSC is not required to respond to FOIA requests, [the requester] cannot show that his right to the issuance of a writ of mandamus is ‘clear and indisputable.’”  “Therefore, the amended complaint fails to state a claim, even when liberally construed.”