West Virginia

September 24, 2008: West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Larry Starcher said he would release any e-mails that have been requested of him, but he doesn't have any to release.

"I don't vacation with Don Blankenship or e-mail to him," Starcher said after giving a speech in honor of Constitution Day at West Virginia University Institute of Technology. Read the full article here.

Court hears police FOIA case
September 24, 2008: The city of Charleston finds itself caught between the Fraternal Order of Police and the state’s largest newspaper over officer time sheets, the city’s lawyer told the Supreme Court Tuesday.

The justices expect to rule by the end of the year on The Charleston Gazette’s request for the records. Read the full article here.

W.Va. Supreme Court set to hear police FOIA case
September 23, 2008: West Virginia’s capital city is asking the state Supreme Court to weigh in on a records request from its largest newspaper.

Lawyers for The Charleston Gazette and the city of Charleston are scheduled to argue Tuesday over the city’s 2007 denial of a Freedom of Information Act request for police time sheets and activity logs. Read the full article here.

THEIR VIEW: Larry Starcher's e-mail trail
September 18, 2008: Poor Larry Starcher. He is under siege from a Freedom of Information Act request for his e-mails. The FOIA was filed by a West Virginia employer at the center of several cases the justice has heard on the Supreme Court.

Starcher may not have found his e-mails to be of interest had he not called the employer "stupid' and a "clown". Perhaps e-mails released through the FOIA could include one from federal District Judge John T. Copenhaver, the subject of which might read "strong personal bias." That's what Copenhaver ruled about Starcher's characterization of a party with cases pending before the West Virginia high court. Read the full column here.

Transparency & Government

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FOIA Laws

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• Past FOIA requests in West Virginia

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