The opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FILED
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA NOV' 9 2009
Clerk, U.S. District and
Bankruptcy Courts
Pedro Dehoyos-Martinez, )
)
Plaintiff, )
v.
)
) Civil Action No. 09 2186
)
Department of Justice Bureau of Prisons )
)
Defendant. )
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter is before the court on the plaintiffs pro se complaint and application to
proceed in forma pauperis. The application to proceed in forma pauperis will be granted and the
complaint will be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
The complaint seeks $5 million in damages under the Privacy Act, see Complaint at I, 5,
and alleges that the plaintiff has suffered many adverse determinations because inaccurate
information is maintained in his Inmate Central File, id. at 3, ~ 7; id. at 4, ~ 13. The Federal
Bureau of Prisons has lawfully exempted the Inmate Central Record System from 5 U.S.C.
§ 552(a)(g), the Privacy Act's provision permitting suit. See 28 C.F.R. § 16.97(a)(4) (exempting
the Inmate Central Record System from the provisions of 5 U.S.c. § 552a(g), among other
provisions of the Privacy Act). Because an individual's Inmate Central File is part of the Bureau
of Prisons' Inmate Central Record System, there can be no suit against the Federal Bureau of
Prisons for errors in records maintained in an individual's Inmate Central File. See Jennings v.
Federal Bureau of Prisons, - - - F. Supp. 2d - - -, 2009 WL 3069729, *5-6 (D.D.C. Sept. 25,
2009); Brown v. Bureau of Prisons, 498 F. Supp. 2d 298, 302-03 (D.D.C. 2007). Therefore, this
complaint does not identify a cause of action arising under federal law and this court has no
subject matter jurisdiction over this complaint. See 28 U.S.c. § 1331. Accordingly, this
complaint must be dismissed.
A separate order accompanies this memorandum opinion.
Date: /0/1-'/0'1
2