At the blog “Open Virginia Law” they are discussing the Mann case and potential impacts, as a new session results will be published from the Supreme Court of Virginia, and it’s likely the Mann/UVa case is one of them.
Insiders tell me that even if Mann/UVa loses, they’ll likely take a on a new position and file a claim of First Amendment right to academic freedom prohibiting release of the ClimateGate and HockeyStick emails, and surely will again encourage Mann to join, each claiming the right rests with them. With Mann, it’s all about delaying the inevitable, unless of course somebody like the hero of Climategate “FOIA” decides to take matters into their own hands and stop this abuse of the legal system and FOIA law by making an email dump. I don’t underestimate that possibility.
Here’s the situation:
Climate change’s looming impact on Virginia’s FOIA
A FOIA case is pending before the Supreme Court of Virginia. Given the Court’s recent history (for example, on cameras in the courtroom and FOIA and the SCC), that alone is cause for concern. This post discusses the case, what’s at issue, and how it matters for open government in Virginia.
Later this week, probably on Thursday, April 17th, the Supreme Court of Virginia will release its next batch of opinions. The Court hears cases in sessions, which happen about every 6-8 weeks. By tradition, the Court releases all published opinions in cases argued at the previous session on the last day of the next session. The Court isn’t required to follow that schedule; it can take as long as it wants. But month in and month out, the Court follows its traditional schedule in all manner of cases, complicated and simple, controversial and not.
It is cause for raised eyebrows therefore that the Court missed its usual timeframe on one case (record no. 130934) argued in January: the entity formerly known as the American Tradition Institute (ATI) and Virginia Delegate (and Congressional candidate) Bob Marshall v. the University of Virginia and former UVA professor Michael Mann. This is pure speculation, but there may be multiple opinions or close questions where the Court wanted to write carefully. For our purposes, the key points are that a FOIA case has reached Virginia’s top court, with significant implications for all Virginia citizens.
Case background
Some may remember the Supreme Court’s 2012 opinion concluding that then-Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli could not obtain Mann’s e-mails and records as part of an AG investigation of whether Mann’s climate research and publications constituted fraud. The ATI and Marshall, also in the climate change skeptic camp, have been trying to obtain Mann’s e-mails and records through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). UVA provided some documents but withheld thousands of others. ATI also has ponied up $4,000 for UVA’s review of the records so far. ATI & Marshall want the withheld records disclosed and their money back.
The trial court ruled for UVA, concluding both that the records were exempt and that UVA could charge for its FOIA exemption review.
Read the entire story here: http://www.openvirginialaw.com/2014/04/climate-change-virginia-foia/
Duster asks: How many of the VSC judges are UVA graduates?
The seven Active Justices:
1.Cynthia Dinah Kinser — Law degree from the University of Virginia.
2. Donald Wayne Lemons — Received both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia.
3. Samuel Bernard Goodwyn — J.D. from the University of Virginia’s School of Law.
4. LeRoy Francis Millette, Jr. — Undergraduate degree from College of William and Mary and law degree from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at William and Mary (public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia).
5. William Cleveland “Bill” Mims — College of William and Mary, George Washington University School of Law (DC), Georgetown University Law Center (DC).
6. Elizabeth Ann McClanahan — Undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary. Law degree from the University of Dayton (1984). Chaired the (VA) State Council of Higher Education and served as vice rector of the College of William and Mary.
7. Cleo Elaine Powell — Undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia. Juris doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Sorry, not one from the George Mason University (VA) School of Law!
Information gathered via links beginning at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Justices_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_Virginia
@RalphB – thanks for the correction. I missed Samuel Goodwyn’s post grad.
@Duster – never mind.
I was browsing the court documents in the case and found Michael Mann’s Affidavit dated July 24, 2012.
http://eelegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Part-1-2012-07-24-Exhibit-1-to-Mann-Affidavit.pdf
Check out Page 1
“Co-awarded (with other IPCC report authors) the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.”
I guess sworn statements aren’t taken too seriously these days. What ever happened to “under penalty of perjury?”
John Kenner, the skeptical hero of the late Michael Crichton’s novel ‘State of Fear’, is fictional. But.
Are his rational skeptical attributes based on, in part, real alumni (or alumnae) of UVa? That info would be interesting . . .
John
I once made the mistake of answering a jury call in Cook County, Illinois.
Got picked for a murder trial.
The defendant showed up for the first two days, when they picked the jurors.
Then the defendant drove himself into a brick wall, thus delaying his date with destiny.
They released us after 3 1/2 days.
The judge admitted that the defendant had been avoiding trial for a long time.
The judge just wanted to clear her backlog.
Smartest person that I’ve ever been in the presence of, that judge.
Perhaps Mann’s funding was from the Koch Bros. That would be embarrassing.
I can’t see how Mann would have standing to take this to the US Supreme Court. Mann assigned the rights to all of his email utterances to UVa. The only issue before the Va Supreme Court is whether the emails are exempt from FOIA under one of the existing exemptions in the law. There is no issue as to who owns them.
If the court were to allow the idea that emails produced in connection with a person’s employment are private expression protected under the 1st amendment, then FOIA as a concept would be dead. Every tinpot bureaucrat subjected to a FOIA request would claim protection.
I thought the university of Virginia were suing him because they want their grant back? Oh the result will be interesting, as it may affect Mark’s case too?
Maybe I’m naïve but isn’t public money funding Mann’s research? IMHO, when the public is paying the freight then EVERYTHING is public. if you want privacy, then use private money…preferably your own.
Well in this upside down world people keep stating they have a right to privacy in a public place. I always thought private meant private and public meant public, but somehow I am mistake, foolish me to think words might mean something.
Looks like UVa prevailed. http://www.courts.state.va.us/scndex.htm
We’ll see if the MSM’s heart was in their amicus, whether they are in search of sunshine or darkness.
========
The FOIA law in Virginia is a law with no teeth and no bite.
http://www.courts.state.va.us/opinions/opnscvwp/1130934.pdf
philjourdan says:
April 16, 2014 at 1:25 pm
@Duster – 3 of the 7 including the Chief Justice.
Thanks. Not overwhelming but…
RalphB says:
April 16, 2014 at 3:04 pm
Duster asks: How many of the VSC judges are UVA graduates?
The seven Active Justices:
1.Cynthia Dinah Kinser — Law degree from the University of Virginia.
2. Donald Wayne Lemons — Received both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia.
3. Samuel Bernard Goodwyn — J.D. from the University of Virginia’s School of Law.
…
7. Cleo Elaine Powell — Undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia. Juris doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Sorry, not one from the George Mason University (VA) School of Law!
I count four UVA graduates in your reply, which was all I asked about, all of whom are listing one or more law degrees from UVA as well. What’s this about George Mason U?
Duster writes:
“I count four UVA graduates in your reply, which was all I asked about, all of whom are listing one or more law degrees from UVA as well.”
I concur in your count. I provided more information than you requested since I like to provide the raw data, so to speak, and let people come to their own conclusions. I thought the non-UVA institutions were interesting too, in that they show varying degree of consanguinity with UVA and alert us to possible collegial sympathy votes, the effects of which relate to the apparent purpose of your question.
Also: ” What’s this about George Mason U?”
A justice hailing from George Mason might have been less in awe of the (legal/’scientific’) consensus view. Unlike the universities represented in the Supreme Court of Virgina, George Mason is a Virginia university which actually grants a degree of respect to non-consensus viewpoints on climate change and other intellectual issues as well. This upsets the usual suspects on the left:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/George_Mason_University#Related_to_global_warming