Ehret v. United States Department of Defense et al

Filing 24

OPINION AND ORDER APPROVING AND ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION 19 ; Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment 7 is GRANTED; Judgment to issue; signed by Judge Janet T. Neff (Judge Janet T. Neff, clb)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION

JOHN B. EHRET,
Plaintiff,

Case No. 1:14-cv-725
HON. JANET T. NEFF

v
THE UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE and
THE UNITED STATES ARMY
CORPS OF ENGINEERS,
Defendants.
_______________________________/

OPINION AND ORDER
Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, filed this lawsuit in July 2014 against Defendants (Dkt 1). The
case was referred to the Magistrate Judge (Dkt 2). Defendants filed a motion for summary judgment
(Dkt 7), to which Plaintiff filed a response (Dkt 10), and Defendants filed a reply (Dkt 12). The
Magistrate Judge issued a Report and Recommendation (R&R, Dkt 19), recommending that this
Court grant Defendants’ motion. The matter is presently before the Court on Plaintiff’s objections
to the Report and Recommendation (Dkt 20).
In accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1) and FED. R. CIV. P. 72(b)(3), the Court has
performed de novo consideration of those portions of the Report and Recommendation to which
objections have been made. The Court determines that the Magistrate Judge carefully and
thoroughly considered the record, the parties’ arguments, and the law governing claims brought
against agencies of the United States. The assertions in Plaintiff’s objections do not persuade the
Court otherwise. Rather, Plaintiff’s objections merely reiterate and expand the positions he adopted

in his motion papers, without demonstrating any factual or legal error in the Magistrate Judge’s
analysis. Plaintiff proffers no argument that would warrant rejecting either the Magistrate Judge’s
determination that the only issue before this Court is whether Defendants have complied with their
obligations under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B), or her ultimate
conclusion that “Defendants are entitled to summary judgment on Plaintiff’s claim that they
improperly withheld from Plaintiff requested, non-exempt records” (R&R, Dkt 19 at 7). For the
reasons stated in the Report and Recommendation, the Court agrees that Defendants are entitled to
the relief they seek. Accordingly, the Court will adopt the Magistrate Judge’s Report and
Recommendation as the Opinion of this Court and enter a Judgment consistent with this Opinion and
Order. See FED. R. CIV. P. 58.
THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the Objections (Dkt 20) are DENIED, and the
Report and Recommendation (Dkt 19) is APPROVED and ADOPTED as the Opinion of the Court.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt 7) is
GRANTED.

23
Dated: June ___, 2015

/s/ Janet T. Neff
JANET T. NEFF
United States District Judge

2