Queern v. United States, No. 20-00363, 2021 WL 808736 (E.D.N.C. Mar. 3, 2021) (Myers II, J.)
Queern v. United States, No. 20-00363, 2021 WL 808736 (E.D.N.C. Mar. 3, 2021) (Myers II, J.)
Re: Request for records concerning certain "'bad actors'"
Disposition: Sustaining in part and overruling in part plaintiff's objections to Magistrate Judge's Memorandum and Recommendation ("M&R"); finding that plaintiff states FOIA claims as to FOIA requests stated therein
- Litigation Considerations, Pleadings: "[The] court has reviewed the M&R, the operative Complaint, and Plaintiff's Objection." "Regarding the portion of the M&R to which plaintiff does not object – i.e., to permit the FOIA claim regarding [one request] to proceed – the court is satisfied that there is no clear error on the face of the record." "Accordingly, that portion of the M&R is accepted." The magistrate judge previously found that "[plaintiff] submitted a FOIA request in August 2018." "Several months later, Defendants denied his request for his alleged failure 'to pay overdue FOIA fees.'" "[Plaintiff] claims that Defendants should not have charged him the fees in the first place, so it was improper to rely on the fees as a basis to deny his request." The court finds that "[t]hese allegations, at this point, state a claim for relief."