Case Detail

FOIA Project Annotation: A federal court in Ohio has ruled that Mark Miller must exhaust his administrative remedies before he can amend his complaint in his FOIA suit against the FEC. Miller asked for an advisory opinion sent to the Schmidt for Congress Committee. Because of staff vacancies, the agency failed to respond to Miller's request within 20 days. Although Miller alleged that he filed an administrative appeal by email, the agency could find no record of receiving the appeal and was unaware of its existence until Miller filed suit alleging that the agency had failed to respond to his request within the statutory deadline. The agency disclosed a redacted version of the opinion and argued to the court that Miller's case was moot since he had received a response. Miller argued that his suit was not moot because the issue of the application of exemptions and an award of attorney's had not yet been addressed. The court, however, agreed with the agency, noting that "federal courts require a person who submitted a FOIA request to exhaust administrative remedies when the agency responded to the request in an untimely manner, but before a lawsuit was initiated. The Court believes that the same standard should apply here when the FEC responded to [Miller's request] after Miller initiated this suit. Miller first should appeal administratively to the FEC its decision to redact and withhold certain responsive documents pursuant to statutory exemptions." The court dismissed Miller's claim for attorney's fees, indicating that he was required to file a separate motion on that issue. The court observed that "Miller faces a difficult challenge to prove that he substantially prevailed in this case. The evidence here indicates that the FEC was preparing a response to [his] FOIA request prior to the initiation of the lawsuit."
Issues: Litigation - Jurisdiction - Failure to Exhaust

Date Filed	Doc #	Docket Text
2012-03-26	1	COMPLAINT against Federal Elections Commission ( Filing fee $ 350 paid - receipt number: 0648-3583909), filed by Mark W Miller. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A - Greenberg Letter Requesting Advisory Opinion dtd 7 Oct 2011, # 2 Exhibit B - Miller FOIA Request Letter dtd 23 Nov 2011, # 3 Exhibit C - Miller FOIA Appeal Letter dtd 9 Jan 2012, # 4 Text of Proposed Order D - Miller Clarifying Appeal Letter dtd 14 Feb 2012, # 5 Civil Cover Sheet, # 6 Summons Form - Federal Elections Commission, # 7 Summons Form - US Attorney General, # 8 Summons Form - US Attorney) (Hartman, Curt) (Entered: 03/26/2012)
2012-03-27	2	Summons Issued as to Federal Elections Commission, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General. (Attachments: # 1 Summons Form, # 2 Summons Form) (sct1) (Entered: 03/27/2012)
2012-04-27	3	Motion To Admit Its Attorneys filed by Defendant Federal Elections Commission. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order, # 2 Exhibit A, # 3 Exhibit B, # 4 Exhibit C, # 5 Exhibit D) (sr) (Entered: 04/27/2012)
2012-04-27	4	ANSWER to 1 Complaint filed by Federal Elections Commission. (sr) (Entered: 04/27/2012)
2012-07-17	5	ORDER granting 3 Motion to admit General Counsel. Signed by Chief Judge Susan J. Dlott on 7/12/12. (wam1) (Entered: 07/17/2012)
2012-07-17	6	NOTICE of Hearing: Preliminary Pretrial Conference set for 8/15/2012 01:30 PM in Chambers before Chief Judge Susan J. Dlott. (wam1) (Entered: 07/17/2012)
2012-08-06	7	RULE 26(f) REPORT by Defendant Federal Elections Commission, Plaintiff Mark W Miller. (Hartman, Curt) (Entered: 08/06/2012)
2012-08-15		Minute Entry for proceedings held before Chief Judge Susan J. Dlott: Initial Pretrial Conference held on 8/15/2012. Defendant's summary judgment motion due by 9/21/12; Plaintiff's response due 11/30/12. (Court Reporter Julie Wolfer (Official).) (wam1) (Entered: 08/16/2012)
2012-09-21	8	MOTION for Summary Judgment by Defendant Federal Elections Commission. Responses due by 10/15/2012 (Attachments: # 1 Memorandum of Law, # 2 Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c) Statement of Undisputed Material Facts, # 3 Affidavit Exh B - Decl. of William F. Bukcley, Jr., # 4 Affidavit Exh. C - Decl. of Gregory R. Baker, # 5 Affidavit Exh. D - Decl. of Eyana J. Esters, # 6 Affidavit Exh. E - Decl. of Candace J. Salley, # 7 Affidavit Exh. F - Decl. of Christopher Mealy, # 8 Exhibit Vaughn Index) (Streeter, Benjamin) (Entered: 09/21/2012)
2012-09-25	9	NOTICE by Defendant Federal Elections Commission re 8 MOTION for Summary Judgment of Correction of Final Version of Attachment # 2 - Exhibit A Fed. R. Civ. P 56(c) Statement of Undisputed Material Facts (Streeter, Benjamin) (Entered: 09/25/2012)
2012-11-30	10	Unopposed MOTION for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply as to 8 MOTION for Summary Judgment New date requested 12/5/2012. by Plaintiff Mark W Miller. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order) (Hartman, Curt) (Entered: 11/30/2012)
2012-12-05	11	RESPONSE in Opposition re 8 MOTION for Summary Judgment filed by Plaintiff Mark W Miller. (Attachments: # 1 Supplement - Memorandum in Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment, # 2 Affidavit /Declaration of Christopher P. Finney, # 3 Exhibit - Response to Proposed Undisputed Facts) (Hartman, Curt) (Entered: 12/05/2012)
2012-12-05	12	MOTION for Leave to File Excess Pages in Memorandum in Opposition to Defendants Motion for Summary Judgment by Plaintiff Mark W Miller. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order) (Hartman, Curt) (Entered: 12/05/2012)
2012-12-07	13	ORDER granting 10 Motion for Extension of Time to File Response re 8 MOTION for Summary Judgment Responses due by 12/5/2012. Signed by Chief Judge Susan J. Dlott on 12/7/12. (wam1) (Entered: 12/07/2012)
2012-12-07	14	ORDER granting 12 Motion for Leave to File Excess Pages in Memorandum in Opposition to Defendants Motion for Summary Judgment. Signed by Chief Judge Susan J. Dlott on 12/7/12. (wam1) (Entered: 12/07/2012)
2012-12-21	15	REPLY to Response to Motion re 8 MOTION for Summary Judgment filed by Defendant Federal Elections Commission. (Streeter, Benjamin) (Entered: 12/21/2012)
2013-08-15	16	ORDER granting 8 Motion for Summary Judgment. Signed by Chief Judge Susan J. Dlott. (wam1) (Entered: 08/15/2013)
2013-08-15	17	CLERK'S JUDGMENT affirming doc. 16 (wam1) (Entered: 08/15/2013)
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