Courts
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Fitzgerald v. Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office
In a proceeding under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, to obtain a copy of a suicide note contained in a criminal investigative file opened by a sheriff’s office under its lawful authority to investigate the unexpected and unattended death of a senior United States Air Force official, the sheriff had the discretion, but not…
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ATI v. UVA
Supreme Court of Virginia rules unanimously that UVA can withhold records requested by the American Tradition Institute (ATI) under the exemption for academic research and “proprietary records.” Court adopts interpretation of “proprietary” that encompasses records that are within the “ownership, title and possession” of the university. Though the ruling is limited to the research exemption…
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Virginia Broadcasting Corp. v. Commonwealth
Virginia Supreme Court rules trial court did not err in refusing TV station’s request to have cameras present during the sentencing phase of convicted murder defendant George Huguely. The court attempted to reconcile two seemingly contradictory phrases within the statute and while setting forth the specific procedure to be used in the future, acknowledged that…
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McBurney v. Young
The U.S. Supreme Court rules (9-0) that Virginia FOIA’s limitation on out-of-state requests (i.e., requests from out of state do not have to be honored) is constitutional.
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Daily Press v. Commonwealth
Virginia Supreme Court rules that Newport News judge wrongly sealed trial exhibits.
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Ewing v. Harmon
In a petition under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act arising from a request for production by a police department of personnel records of a specific officer, such records are subject to the protections of Code § 2.2-3705.1(1) and their production was appropriately refused by the Department; the circuit court’s order requiring disclosure of the…
Opinions -
Ewing v. Harmon
In a petition under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act arising from a request for production by a police department of personnel records of a specific officer, such records are subject to the protections of Code § 2.2-3705.1(1) and their production was appropriately refused by the Department; the circuit court’s order requiring disclosure of the…
Opinions -
Project Vote v. Long
4th Circuit rules that completed voter registration forms, with Social Security numbers redacted, must be disclosed under the National Voter Registration Act.
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Hill v. Fairfax County School Board
The Supreme Court of Virginia rules that the rapid and extensive exchange of emails leading up to a meeting is not itself a meeting triggering FOIA’s requirements.
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Bradford v. Board of Equalization
Bradford v. Board of Equalization (Loudoun General District Court): no violation to demand camera from freelance reporter after the flash accidentally went off.
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Christian v. State Corporation Commission (Virginia Supreme Court)
The State Corporation Commission is not subject to FOIA.
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Saltville v. Surber
Judge in Saltville reviewed under seal several documents related to a former town employee. He eventually ruled that some of them must be released to a newspaper, over the former employee’s objection, and that others did not have to be released because they did not discuss public business. Read the full final order here.
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Virginian-Pilot v. City of Norfolk School Board
Court rules that some administrative investigative records had to be released because the investigation was over, but also rules that the school district was not required to redact personnel records and scholastic records in response to newspaper’s FOIA request.
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Dixon v. VCU
A Fairfax County Circuit Court ruled Sept. 9 that the names home and business addresses of the Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors must be released when requested under FOIA.
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Cline v. Augusta County and Board of Equalization of Augusta County
Augusta County Circuit Court judge rules that county Board of Equalization violated FOIA by meeting in a small, inaccessible room with a sign on the door directing the public to wait outside until their case was called. Full text of the opinion (PDF)
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Selover v. Warren Department of Social Services
Page General District Court Judge Dale Houff’s Feb. 19, 2010, letter ruling on DSS’ compliance with order to produce records under FOIA.
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Ostergren v. McDonnell (permanent injunction) – federal district court
Federal district court rules that privacy advocate BJ Ostergren may continue to publish the Social Security numbers of prominent persons, but not private ones, to protest current Virginia practices allowing land records with full SSNs to be published online.
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McBurney v. Mims (U.S. federal district court)
U.S. District Court grants Attorney General’s motion to dismiss in case challenging Virginia FOIA’s restriction of its use to Virginia citizens only (i.e., a North Carolina resident has no right to file a request to receive records from Virginia state or local government).
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McBurney v. Mims – briefs
Please visit our Brief Bank to view some of the briefs filed by the plaintiffs in McBurney v. Mims, which challenges the provision in Virginia FOIA that says FOIA can be used by Virginia citizens only, not out-of-state residents.
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Perreault v. The Free Lance-Star (Va. Supreme Court)
The settlement terms of several wrongful death lawsuits brought in Spotsylvania County against a pharmaceutical company must be disclosed publicly and cannot be sealed in the court records, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled. The unanimous opinion upholds a circuit court ruling that it was improper to permit the suits to be settled without the details…
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Ostergren v. McDonnell (federal district court)
Virginia law barring people from posting Social Security numbers on the Internet is unconstitutional as applied to a privacy advocate’s Web site as it existed at the time of the lawsuit.
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Giarratano v. Johson (4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals)
Virginia Freedom of Information Act’s prohibition on prisoner use for records not related to their court cases is constitutionally sound.
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Rivera v. Long (Virginia Supreme Court)
Where the Social Security numbers are redacted from voter registration application records, the documents will no longer be exempt from inspection.
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Davis v. City of Chesapeake (Chesapeake Circuit Court)
The Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act is not an exemption to FOIA’s disclosure requirements. City may not charge for summary/abstract of record without first reaching an agreeement with the requester.
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Fenter v. Norfolk Airport Authority (Virginia Supreme Court)
Norfolk Airport Authority’s response that it had forwarded a citizen’s FOIA request to the Transportation Security Administration did not meet the standards of any of Virginia FOIA’s required responses.