Roland v. DOJ, No. 23-1620, 2023 WL 8251312 (7th Cir. Nov. 29, 2023) (per curiam)

Roland v. DOJ, No. 23-1620, 2023 WL 8251312 (7th Cir. Nov. 29, 2023) (per curiam)

Re:  Request for records concerning requester’s belief that “government was spying on him through his television”

Disposition:  Affirming district court’s grant of government’s motion for summary judgment

• Litigation Considerations, Mootness and Other Grounds for Dismissal:  The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit relates that “[t]he Department told [the requester] that a search had not identified any records responsive to his request and that records, if they existed, were exempt from disclosure.”  “The Department also told [the requester] of his right to file, and how to file, an administrative appeal.”  “The Department’s internal records show that he did not file one.”  The district court “granted the Department’s motion for summary judgment” in pertinent part because “he had not exhausted his administrative remedies.”  “[The requester] contends that he exhausted administrative remedies.”  “But [the court finds that] he points only to the letters instructing him how to appeal administratively.”  “They do not suggest that he followed through on the appeal, as he had to do.”