AP Photo/Bob Bird, File
Pictured: Elliott Maynard (center)
By Kyle Austin
A judge in West Virginia has ruled that judicial officers are not above freedom of information laws, as it is forcing State Supreme Court Chief Justice Elliott E. "Spike" Maynard to release three e-mails to the public, the Associated Press is reporting.
Kanawha County Circuit judge Duke Bloom ordered Maynard to release the e-mails on Tuesday, following a lawsuit filed by the AP against the high court. In his ruling, Bloom rejected the State Supreme Court's argument that the state's FOIA laws were not applicable to judicial officers.
The e-mails are between Maynard and Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy. Maynard has previously ruled in favor of the energy company in a 2002 civil lawsuit. In 2006, photographs of the two men vacationing together surfaced, prompting an investigation by the AP that eventually lead to a FOIA request that released the e-mails.
Maynard lost his May re-election bid in the wake of the scandal.
Eight other e-mails between Maynard and Blakenship remain sealed, after the court determined that they did not contain information pertaining to public interest.
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