BERYL A. HOWELL, Chief Judge.
This matter is before the Court on the federal Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint [ECF No. 16] and the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department's Motion to Dismiss, or, in the Alternative, for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 17]. For the reasons discussed below,
The Court construes the plaintiff's complaint as one under the Privacy Act, see 5 U.S.C. § 552, with respect to records maintained by the Federal Bureau of Prisons ("BOP").
A complaint is subject to dismissal if it fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). To survive a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), the "complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Wood v. Moss, ___ U.S. ___, 134 S.Ct. 2056, 2067, 188 L.Ed.2d 1039 (2014) (quoting Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009)). A claim is facially plausible when the plaintiff pleads factual content that is more than "`merely consistent with' a defendant's liability," but allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged," Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)); see also Rudder v. Williams, 666 F.3d 790, 794 (D.C.Cir.2012). Although "detailed factual allegations" are not required to withstand a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a complaint must offer "more than labels and conclusions" or "formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action" to provide "grounds" of "entitle[ment] to relief," Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (alteration in original), and "nudge[] [the] claims across the line from conceivable to plausible," id. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955. The Court must
Generally, "[t]he Privacy Act regulates the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of information about individuals by federal agencies." Wilson v. Libby, 535 F.3d 697, 707 (D.C.Cir.2008) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted); see Doe v. Chao, 540 U.S. 614, 618, 124 S.Ct. 1204, 157 L.Ed.2d 1122 (2004) (stating that Privacy Act "gives agencies detailed instructions for managing their records and provides for various sorts of civil relief to individuals aggrieved by failures on the Government's part to comply with the requirements"). For example, an individual may request amendment of an agency's records or information in a system of records pertaining to him. See 5 U.S.C. § 552a(d)(2). The individual may file a civil action against an agency which "makes a determination ... not to amend [the] record in accordance with his request." Id. § 552a(g)(1)(A).
The Privacy Act also requires that an agency "maintain all records which are used by the agency in making any determination about any individual with such accuracy, relevance, timeliness, and completeness as to assure fairness to the individual in the determination." Id. § 552a(e)(5). An individual may file a civil action against the agency if it
Id. § 552a(g)(1)(C). If the Court determines that the agency's actions were willful or intentional, it may award actual damages sustained by the individual following from the agency's failure to maintain its records with the requisite level of accuracy, costs of the action and attorney fees. Id. § 552a(g)(4).
The Privacy Act is not a vehicle for challenging a criminal conviction, however. See Semrau v. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, No. 5:13-CV-188, 2014 WL 4626708, at *5 (S.D.Miss. Sept. 12, 2014) (finding that "attempts to use the Privacy Act to challenge a conviction, a reprimand imposed as a punishment therefrom, or any other action or decision recorded in an agency file is barred by law"); Corley v. U.S. Parole Comm'n, 709 F.Supp.2d 1, 5 (D.D.C.2009) ("To the extent that this Privacy Act case is a disguised collateral attack on the plaintiff's conviction and sentence ... it is misplaced."); see also Blair-Bey v. Quick, 151 F.3d 1036, 1042 (D.C.Cir.1998) (discussing D.C. Code § 23-110 as the "remedy analogous to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 for prisoners sentenced in D.C. Superior Court who wished to challenge their conviction or sentence"). Nor is it "a vehicle for amending the judgments of federal officials ... as those judgments are reflected in records maintained by federal agencies." Kleiman v. Dep't of Energy, 956 F.2d 335, 337-38 (D.C.Cir.1992). Rather, it "allows for the
Furthermore, "[t]he agency obligations created by the Privacy Act are not absolute[.]" Meyer v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 940 F.Supp. 9, 134 (D.D.C.1996). Relevant to this case are BOP regulations which exempt the Inmate Central Records System (JUSTICE/BOP-005) from subsections (d) and (g) of the Privacy Act. See 28 C.F.R. § 16.97(a)(1), (4). Because a prisoner's PSR is maintained in the BOP's Inmate Central Records System, relief in the form of amendments to the plaintiff's PSR simply is not available. See White v. U.S. Prob. Office, 148 F.3d 1124, 1125 (D.C.Cir. 1998) (per curiam) (holding that appellant is "barred from seeking amendment of his presentence report" because "presentence reports and BOP inmate records systems are exempt from the amendment provisions of the [Privacy] Act"); Jennings v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 657 F.Supp.2d 65, 71 (D.D.C.2009) ("Insofar as plaintiff demands amendment of any record maintained in the Inmate Central Files system, that is, amendment of the PS[R], custody classification form, or security designation form, this relief ... is unavailable.").
In addition, BOP regulations exempt the Inmate Central Records System from subsection (e)(5) of the Privacy Act. See 28 C.F.R. § 16.97(j); see also id. § 16.97(k)(2). Thus, the BOP exempts the Inmate Central Records System from the substantive provision regarding the agency's record-keeping obligations. It follows that there remains no remedy under the Privacy Act for harm resulting from inaccuracies in the inmate records. See Martinez v. Bureau of Prisons, 444 F.3d 620, 624 (D.C.Cir.2006) (per curiam) (affirming dismissal of Privacy Act claims against BOP which had "exempted its Inmate Central Record System from the accuracy provisions of the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a(e)(5)"); Earle v. Holder, 815 F.Supp.2d 176, 181-82 (D.D.C. 2011) ("It is settled that inmate records maintained by BOP, including presentence reports, have been exempted from the Privacy Act's accuracy and amendment requirements (subsections (d) and (e)(5)) and from its damages provision (subsection (g))."), aff'd, No. 11-5280, 2012 WL 1450574, at *1 (D.C.Cir. Apr. 20, 2012); Conklin v. U.S. Bureau of Prisons, 514 F.Supp.2d 1, 6 (D.D.C.2007) (concluding that "plaintiff effectively is barred from obtaining any remedy, including damages, under subsection (g), for the BOP's alleged failure to maintain records pertaining to him with the mandated level of accuracy").
The plaintiff's complaint fails to state a viable Privacy Act claim for amendment of records or for monetary damages, and, therefore, the federal defendants' motion to dismiss will be granted.
Notwithstanding the Court's initial conclusion that the plaintiff proceeds only
"The elements of the tort of false arrest and false imprisonment are: (1) the detention or restraint of [the plaintiff] against his will within boundaries fixed by the defendant, and (2) the unlawfulness of the restraint." Saha v. Lehman, 537 F.Supp.2d 122, 126 (D.D.C.2008) (citations omitted), aff'd, No. 08-7047, 2008 WL 4726053 (D.C.Cir. July 31, 2008). The few facts set forth in the complaint simply do not allow this Court to draw a reasonable inference that the District of Columbia defendants are liable for the misconduct alleged. Similarly, absent factual allegations that "[t]here [has been] (a) a criminal proceeding instituted or continued by the [District] against the plaintiff, (b) termination of the proceeding in favor of the [plaintiff], (c) absence of probable cause for the proceeding, and (d) [m]alice, or a primary purpose in instituting the proceeding other than that of bringing an offender to justice," Amobi v. District of Columbia Dep't of Corr., 755 F.3d 980, 992 (D.C.Cir. 2014) (quoting DeWitt v. District of Columbia, 43 A.3d 291, 296 (D.C.2012) (emphasis removed), the complaint does not state a malicious prosecution claim.
The plaintiff's complaint fails to allege Privacy Act or tort claims upon which relief can be granted. The Court therefore grants the defendants' motions to dismiss. An Order is issued separately.