Edmond v. U.S., No. 17-2611, 2018 WL 6068417 (D.D.C. Nov. 19, 2018) (Lamberth, J.)

Edmond v. U.S., No. 17-2611, 2018 WL 6068417 (D.D.C. Nov. 19, 2018) (Lamberth, J.)

Re:  Request for "a copy of the United States Postal Services . . . file that it has compiled of [plaintiff]"

Disposition:  Granting defendant's motion for summary judgment

• Procedural Requirements, Proper FOIA Requests:  The court holds that "[plaintiff] failed to reasonably describe his request."  "A generalized request for the Postal Service's file on a single individual does little to identify the record’s subject matter, location, or form."  "Indeed, it presumes the existence of a file the Postal Service swears it doesn't maintain."  "And even if the Postal Service did keep the type of file [plaintiff] seeks, locating it would require individually searching the Postal Service's approximately 35,000 facilities, doubtlessly an unreasonably imposition."  "Since he offers only a bald request for 'a copy of the United States Postal Services['] . . . file' on him, [plaintiff] falls short of his burden to adequately describe his request."