From the Raleigh News and Observer (6/18/10): The N.C. Supreme Court says lower courts must consider a lawsuit that accused officials of withholding documents about the state's pension fund.
The high court ruled Thursday that lower courts were wrong to dismiss the public records lawsuit against former Treasurer Richard Moore’s office. The justices said that judges and not public officials must make the final decision on whether an agency possesses records the public wants.
A three-judge Court of Appeals panel ruled last fall that the State Employees Association of North Carolina didn’t specify what records were being wrongfully withheld.
The association sued after it said the Treasurer’s Office failed to fully provide detailed information about pension fund investments since 2001.