Williams v. DOJ, No. 16-512, 2016 WL 3027543 (D. Md. May 27, 2016) (Grimm, J.)

Williams v. DOJ, No. 16-512, 2016 WL 3027543 (D. Md. May 27, 2016) (Grimm, J.)

Re: Records concerning plaintiff's forbearers

Disposition: Dismissing plaintiff's claims without prejudice

• Procedural Requirements, Proper FOIA Requests:  The court holds that "[plaintiff's] FOIA claims against the Defendants will be dismissed without prejudice for failure to state a claim."  The court relates that, "[h]ere, [plaintiff] submitted sweeping requests for genealogical and other historical information covering a period of over 600 years with no other identifying details."  "[Plaintiff] made no attempt to narrow the range of his request after request requirements were explained to him."  "[Plaintiff] was not provided records because the requests were insufficiently specific to enable a search under the parameters of FOIA."  The court also finds that plaintiff may not "seek damages and injunctive relief under FOIA to create documents responsive to his requests."