Lowe v. United States
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:18-cv-00898
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Lowe v. United States, Judge Schofield denied without prejudice the Government’s application concerning Lowe’s Freedom of Information Act requests and set deadlines.
Kevin Lowe and the Government, including the United States Attorney’s Office and the Justice Department office handling the FOIA request.
What happened
In Lowe v. United States, Kevin Lowe asked the court to require the Government to comply with his Freedom of Information Act requests and not charge him for the materials.
The court said Lowe’s request to compel the Government did not meet the law’s administrative exhaustion requirements. It ordered him to submit the request to the proper Justice Department office by January 9, 2020, and ordered the Government to report on the requests’ status by January 29, 2020.
Judge Lorna G. Schofield denied the Government’s application to deny Lowe’s related motions without prejudice to renewal after he refiles the request with the proper authorities.
The detailed version
- Lowe v. United States · No. 1:18-cv-00898
- Lorna Schofield
- Dec. 10, 2019
Background
Kevin Lowe, who was representing himself, filed motions asking the Government to comply with his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and not charge him to receive the requested material. The United States Attorney’s Office reported that it had forwarded the request to the Justice Department’s Executive Office for United States Attorneys Freedom of Information Privacy Staff. That office was processing the request and had asked the United States Attorney’s Office to gather responsive records.
Administrative Exhaustion
The court stated that Lowe’s motion seeking an order requiring the Government to comply with the FOIA request did not satisfy the statute’s administrative exhaustion requirements. Those requirements must be met before a federal court has jurisdiction to order an agency to stop withholding records. The court also noted that filings by people representing themselves must be read liberally and given special consideration.
Order and Disposition
The court ordered Lowe to promptly make his FOIA request with the Executive Office for United States Attorneys Freedom of Information Privacy Staff, and no later than January 9, 2020. It ordered that office and the United States Attorney’s Office to continue responding to the pending request. Judge Lorna G. Schofield denied the Government’s application to deny Lowe’s FOIA-related motions without prejudice to renewal after Lowe refiles the request with the proper authorities. The Government was ordered to file a letter about the status of the responses by January 29, 2020. The Clerk was directed to mail the order to Lowe.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.