Courts
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Rossignol v. Voorhaar (4th Cir. on censorship)
A newspaper publisher brought a 1983 suit for violation of its First Amendment rights, after county sheriff deputies worried about the paper’s Election Day editorials conspired to buy out the paper’s entire stock from vendors across the county. The district court gave summary judgment for the deputies, saying they acted privately and not under color…
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Globe Newspaper Company v. Commonwealth
Newspapers asked to obtain DNA evidence from a criminal trial and subject it to retesting under modern methods. The Court affirmed a lower court’s decision to deny that request. The right of access to the courts is not so broadly defined under the United States or Virginia Constitutions. Furthermore, the DNA evidence was not a…
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PETA v. City of Virginia Beach
Virginia Marine Science Museum Foundation is a private entity not subject to FOIA.
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Carr v. Forbes Inc. (4th Cir. on libel)
An engineer who sued a magazine for defamation had made himself a limited-purpose public figure by his role in choosing and publicizing contracts. He could not show that the magazine acted with . . .actual malice.’
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Connell v. Kersey
(NOTE: The 2002 General Assembly added an amendment to FOIA reversing this decision and making clear that all constitutional offices are subject to FOI law.) Present: All the Justices JAMES G. CONNELL III v ANDREW KERSEY OPINION BY JUSTICE LAWRENCE L. KOONTZ, JR. Record No. 001729 June 8, 2001 FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF FAIRFAX…
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Wilson v. City of Salem
Wilson v. City of Salem/Munley v. City of Salem: Judge Weckstein’s opinion
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Mannix v. Board of Supervisors
[The case was first heard in General District Court; order below.] May 3, 2001 Mr. Patrick J. Mannix, Sr. xxxxxx Bristol, VA 24201 Mr. J.D. Bowie Attorney at Law xxxxxx Bristol, VA 24203 Re: Patrick J. Mannix, Sr. v. Washington County Board of Supervisors Circuit Court of Washington County File No. 01-93 Gentlemen: This matter…
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Smith v. Richmond Newspapers
Present: All the Justices YVONNE G. SMITH v. RICHMOND NEWSPAPERS, INC., ET AL. Record No. 000337 January 12, 2001 FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF HENRICO COUNTY George F. Tidey, Judge OPINION BY JUSTICE LAWRENCE L. KOONTZ, JR. In this appeal, we consider whether audio tape recordings of a felony criminal trial are open to inspection…
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Bell v. Jarvis (4th Cir. on public trials)
A man convicted of sexually abusing his step-granddaughter objected when the public and press were removed from the courtroom while she testified. On direct appeal, his lawyer failed to make a 6th Amendment claim to a public trial. The state courts summarily rejected petitioner’s state habeas claim that failure to pursue the Sixth Amendment violation…
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Fisher v. King
No 1st Amendment right of access to government-held information.
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Connell v. Kersey
Commonwealth Attorney not a public body under FOIA. Criminal incident information need only be summarized; the actual records need not be disclosed.
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Hertz v. Times-World Corp.
The Bedford County Circuit Court granted writs of mandamus to two newspapers, ordering that transcripts from several criminal hearings be made public. Two of the hearings involved juveniles and two involved adults accused of sexual crimes, in which numerous juvenile witnesses were required to testify. The Court reversed those writs of mandamus. The newspapers should…
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Shenandoah Publishing House v. City of Winchester
Document given to city attorney by city manager is protected from mandatory disclosure as attorney-client privilege because it was prepared as part of an active administrative investigation in which legal advice was needed.
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Lawrence v. Jenkins
Not an FOIA violation when a public official chooses to exercise an exemption, redacted exempt information, but failed to timely cite the applicable Code section for the exemption.
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Food Lion Inc. v. Capital Cities/ABC Inc. (4th Cir. on media law)
Defendant reporters got jobs with Food Lion through misrepresentation and made a videotape, which was aired on ABC, of the store’s unwholesome food handling practices. (1) The court held that, since the reporters were at-will employees for an indefinite period, there was no reliance on their misrepresentations that would support a fraud claim. (2) However,…
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Town of Madison v. Ford
The Virginia Constitution requires that votes taken on all municipal ordinances must reflect how each member present voted.
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Yeagle v. Collegiate Times (Va. Supreme Court on libel)
Yeagle, a college employee, filed a complaint against Virginia Tech’s Collegiate Times, alleging defamation after the phrase . . .director of butt licking’ appeared under her name in an article. Her suit was dismissed, and the Court upheld that dismissal. As a matter of law, the phrase could not convey a defamatory meaning. It contained…
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Snyder v. Ringgold (4th Cir. on access to records)
Ringgold, a police official, restricted a reporter’s access to police department information, after she aired a story about possible department corruption, by only communicating with her in writing and prohibiting her from any exclusive interviews with department personnel. The reporter brought a §1983 action, claiming that the restrictions violated her 1st 14th Amendment rights. After…
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Tull v. Brown
Tapes used to record 911 calls are public records, but they are exempt as noncriminal incident information.
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Richmond Newspapers v. Casteen
Materials that would nonetheless be official records standing alone may become exempt correspondence if they are transmitted to a qualified office as a letter.
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Capital Tours v. DMV
FOIA does not require the production of trade secrets or proprietary information.
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Shenandoah Publishing House v. Warren County School Board
An injunction is proper where a school board enters into any contract, which was discussed during a closed executive session conducted pursuant to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and whose effective date is before the date on which the school board reconvenes in open session and formally approves the contract.
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Coward v. City of Richmond
A valid subpoena duces tecum is not a matter covered by FOIA.
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Wall v. Fairfax County School Board
High school student election results are not official records subject to disclosure under FOIA.
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McLaughlin v. Town of Front Royal
An action taken in open session of a meeting is valid.