Pinson v. DOJ, No. 12-1872, 2014 WL 4829309 (D.D.C. Sept. 30, 2014) (Contreras, J.)

Pinson v. DOJ, No. 12-1872, 2014 WL 4829309 (D.D.C. Sept. 30, 2014) (Contreras, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning plaintiff

Disposition: Granting in part and denying in part defendant's motion for summary judgment

• Litigation Considerations, Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies:  The court notes that "[plaintiff] does not address his failure to exhaust administrative remedies" and "[a]s a consequence, this Court finds that [plaintiff] has effectively conceded that he failed to appeal the NSD's decision and thus failed to exhaust his administrative remedies regarding [the instant] FOIA Request."
   
• Procedural Considerations, Proper FOIA Request:  The court holds that "[i]n this case, the DOJ erroneously asserts that a notarized statement by [a third party] was necessary to make [plaintiff's] request a properly filed FOIA request."  "Regardless of the factual inconsistencies surrounding [the third party's] affidavit, the Court reiterates that notarization of a Certificate of Identity is not a DOJ requirement for a proper FOIA request if the consent to release records to a third party was signed under penalty of perjury, as it was in this case."  The court also holds that "because the DOJ failed" "to make a timely determination as to whether it would grant or deny the request" "within the statutorily required time period, [plaintiff] constructively exhausted his administrative remedies."  "[T]he Court is sensitive to the DOJ's concern, [and] the Court hereby instructs the DOJ to contact [the third party] to determine whether he signed the certification of identity and consented to the release of his information to [plaintiff]."