Virginia Supreme Court Rules to Protect Scientists from Onerous Document Requests

The Virginia Supreme Court Thursday unanimously upheld a lower court ruling that would block the American Tradition Institute (ATI) from receiving thousands of private emails from former University of Virginia (U.Va.) climate scientist Michael Mann.

The request from ATI, which was made under the state’s freedom of information law, directly mirrors one the court also rejected in 2013 from then-state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.  In recent years, ATI and other groups have targeted researchers at several public universities with demands for wide swaths of private emails.

Virginia Supreme Court Rules to Protect Scientists from Onerous Document Requests