Here’s something out of left field (literally) and almost too good to be true, but it really is. Get this: 17 news organizations, including NPR, WaPo, AP, now have grown a spine and filed an amicus brief (see download below) to OPPOSE in court Michael Mann’s effort to keep his UVa CLIMATEGATE-related e-mails secret.
Basically, Mann’s attempt at hiding his emails of work done on public funds and time from public view has backfired, and now is a story that has “legs” in reporter parlance. From Columbia Journalism Review:
Strange bedfellows: ‘Climate change deniers, newspapers partner in a FOIA fight’
Public information laws have forged an unlikely team in Penn State climate scientist Michael Mann’s quest to keep his emails private
‘Organized by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, 17 news organizations, including National Public Radio, Dow Jones, and The Washington Post, submitted an amicus brief in November, supporting the group’s rights to Mann’s emails.
A verdict is expected soon in one of Mann’s cases, a trial winding through the Virginia courts that, oddly, pits him against the interests of the press. Mann is challenging the American Traditions Institute in court—it has since changed its name to the less charged “Energy & Environment Legal Institute”—after the group attempted to obtain access to his email through a FOIA request. Mann argues that his emails constitute “proprietary information,” a special exemption granted to research institutions under Virginia state law. But after an appellate court issued a strong finding, broadly defining “proprietary information” in a way that would make almost any university document—and potentially government documents—exempt from public release, the press took notice.
“By defining an exemption to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (‘VFOIA’) as broadly as the lower court has done, this Court Would be, in effect, removing almost all public documents from the ambit of the records law,” reads the brief. By exempting Mann’s emails from public release, the group argues, the court is setting what journalists see as a dangerous precedent—making it much more difficult to gain access to public records.’
See more at: http://www.cjr.org/the_observatory/michael_mann_versus_the_press.php?page=1
Here is the page that defines the interest, note the list of heavy hitters.
Basically what has happened is that journalists are afraid that if Mann wins, it will set a legal precedent that will be used to restrict the ability of the press in future issues where work products and emails discussing research are needed for journalist investigations, but will be made off limits. So, they are going to throw Mann under the bus to keep their FOIA ability intact.
IMHO, the Mann’s days are numbered as a hero of the climate movement.
Read the amicus brief for yourself: ATI-v-UVA-RCFP-amicus (PDF)
ADDED: And it’s a strange place now for some news outlets to find themselves in, particularly the Washington Post. This (absurdly detached) blast from the past below reminds us how these outlets may act out with their editorial positions, but these aren’t always harmonious with their lesser-advertised legal postures. (h/t to Chris Horner of ATI who’s been fighting this fight for a very long time.)
The CJR article is surprisingly slanted towards Dr. Mann, including the liberal use of ‘deniers.; For that, they are taking a beating in the comments. It’s hard to believe that reporter Fitts is not aware that this is a derogatory term.
It’s like an “army of ones” is becoming armies of many arising from the ground in search of the truth. There is no central command, just common goals in some battles. Victory rests with the truth. It will be won!
How slimed to hide their Amicus is this case until the elections are over. Most legal participants want sunshine on their filings from the beginning–no delays.
David Sanger says:
March 17, 2014 at 9:10 pm
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This is the first I’ve heard of it.
Anthony, thanks for bringing this to my attention.
What’s a climate change denier ? Does anyone know one ?
Oh yeah, silly me – Michael Mann.
This was more timely that I thought …
https://twitter.com/SemperBanU/status/445641935055642624
The mega-whiney Mann fears the opening of an enormous bottle of his own creation…. This is gonna be GREAT.
Soooo, maybe we finally get to see some of these precious work product emails? Expect to see compromise where third party is chosen to redact emails of purely private nature. How that balance is struck may determine whether there is anything of interest made public.
. . . gee, I was expecting to see a comment at the end of the post along the lines of , ” . . meanwhile, popcorn futures explode EVEN MORE ! ! ! You might say as far as popcorn futures go, It’s BETTER than we thought ! ! ! ” 🙂 🙂 🙂
. .Such fun this all is . .! ! ! Who needs any TV dramas or sitcoms . .? ! ? 🙂 🙂
Anthony,
How did this come to your attention? The certificate of service is dated Nov 12th 2013, so it’s at least 4 months old. The news outlets involved in the amicus brief have certainly kept quiet about it.
REPLY: it was an item on Twitter today. – Anthony
Could this trial turn out to be the Warmistas’ Stalingrad. Before Stalingrad, the Nazis never had a defeat: after Stalingrad, they never had a victory.
Micheal Mann’s chances in Court are going to look like an inverse hockey stick and consequently so will his his professional reputation. R.I.P. for both.
In response to:
A verdict is expected soon in one of Mann’s cases, a trial winding through the Virginia courts that, oddly, pits him against the interests of the press. Mann is challenging the American Traditions Institute in court—it has since changed its name to the less charged “Energy & Environment Legal Institute”—after the group attempted to obtain access to his email through a FOIA request. Mann argues that his emails constitute “proprietary information,” a special exemption granted to research institutions under Virginia state law.
What does a ‘scientist’ have to hide? Is science flexible?
This is an important issue on many levels. A free and active press is necessary to find the truth and to stop climategate type scientific corruption and political/industrial corruption. There is a similar problem in medical research were companies have a financial incentive to manipulate research results.
Trillions of dollars has been spent on green scams, justified in part by Mann’s hockey stick analysis.
It appears Mann has something to hide. If he does not have something to hide then make the correspondence concerning his public funded research available.
Keith DeHavelle 8:58pm
Nice, solid meter, unusual rhymes, deep thought. What’s not to like.
Eugene WR GAllun
Steyn’s latest, which includes the news that Mann has moved to dismiss his counterclaims:
http://www.steynonline.com/6178/defaming-for-beginners
Good stuff.
Mann overboard! Who knows, there may be more brewing under the surface here. Remember, the mainstream is fickle, and if they smell blood in the water on any particular aspect of this issue, they will turn on Al Gore, the IPCC, or each other in a heartbeat, just to save their own skins. They still love ambush journalism, especially if there is no way out for the victim. When it comes to shifting the blame for shoddy reporting, no worries, since one news outlet can always say “we thought that other outlet did their fact-checking, we only reported what they said….”
Steyn’s latest is indeed good stuff.
The really odd thing to me is that Mann’s lawyers’ prose is just so, well, juvenile. Totally apart from the essential merits or lack thereof. They can’t even string together the semblance of a logical argument.
Oh yeah, I disagree with Steyn on warming by the way, but the leading fanatics on warming want to suppress dissent by suits and that really ticks me off.
Steyn’s latest is indeed good stuff.
The really odd thing to me is that Mann’s lawyers’ prose is just so, well, juvenile. Totally apart from the essential merits or lack thereof. They can’t even string together the semblance of a logical argument.
Oh yeah, I disagree with Steyn on warming by the way, but the leading fanatics on warming want to suppress dissent by suits and that really ticks me off.
Noticeably absent from the listed FOIA-filing news organizations is the NYT … “All the News That’s Fit to Print.”
Apparently, truth underlying MM’s publicly funded climate change work isn’t “fit to print”.
Is it is, or is it not?
I am genuinely surprised by this. What a good feeling!
Considering Mikey’s tenaciousness, I’m going to be shocked to find any emails still left on a server to discover.
Max Hugoson says:
March 17, 2014 at 8:09 pm
“Now, as such, MY communications for more than 30 years have always been ABOVE BOARD, civil, and without blemish.”
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I’m with you. I have always treated email as a public document. There have been times I really wanted to blast someone through email. I would write out what I wanted to say, walk away for a cup of coffee, come back to the computer and think “do I want this in the public record” then delete email.
Either Mann’s emails contain juicy information, or his paranoia is blocking them on principle in which case there might not be anything worth reading.
I don’t want to cause Mann any concern but Climategate III is still lurking out there somewhere. But he should already know that. I can hear the sound of him pulling out his hair.
Climategate III is mute because nobody with the password has a pair, to draw a phrase from the current post. Too bad it wasn’t given to me as if that had happened the world would have it now. That is an advantage granted those of us who have no expectation of seeing another birthday. Never misunderestimate the fearlessness of motivated senior citizens. There are some jobs nobody else can get done.
REPLY: Hey, “dp” you can have the right to complain about “nobody with the password has a pair” here when you put your own name to your words. Otherwise kindly STFU. Basically there’s nothing new in CG III that hadn’t already been covered in CGI/II. Megabytes of mundane stuff, much like NSA flypaper. The important stuff has been extracted. Dumping the whole file on the net won’t help anybody. Tough noogies if you don’t like the situation but that’s the reality. – Anthony
Hopefully these e-mails will not have been deleted, if not they will show the lies and bigotry that have beset AWG proponents since the almost 18 year pause in GW. Mann will have to decide if deleting them will cause him more harm than having to reveal the contents, since this has been going on for four months he had plenty of time to think and act. Could anyone please tell me if a court action has been started, would Mann be guilty of contempt of court if he deletes the e-mails at this stage in the proceedings, or only if he does so if the court rules against him?