The Michigan Court of Claims ruled that the Regents of the University of Michigan properly denied Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for a law professor’s communications with certain entities that the professor represented on a pro bono basis while employed by the University as a professor. The entities included organizations working on climate Superfund legislation. The requests also sought certain correspondence related to a memorandum prepared by the professor in March 2023 that the requestor also referred to as “American Petroleum Institute Opposition to a Climate Superfund Act.” The court concluded that the professor was not a “public body” subject to FOIA in her individual capacity. The court further concluded that the requested communications were not “public records” subject to FOIA because the record did not support the requestor’s position that the requested documents “were used in the performance of an official function.” The court wrote that the “fatal flaw” in the requestor’s argument was that it failed to connect the communications to the professor’s “required job duties or other authorized acts or operations of the University.” The court said any “indirect benefit” to the University from the professor’s pro bono work was not an official function and found no evidence that the pro bono work was ever used as part of an official University function.

Lawsuit to compel the production of certain correspondence of a University of Michigan law professor who did pro bono work regarding climate Superfund laws.

Government Accountability & Oversight v. Regents of the University of Michigan

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Michigan Court Said Law Professor’s Email Communications Related to Pro Bono Work on Climate Superfund Laws Were Not Subject to State Freedom of Information Act

Filed

United States of America

Michigan

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Technologies that capture and hold energy in reserve for later use.

Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

Michigan Court Said Law Professor’s Email Communications Related to Pro Bono Work on Climate Superfund Laws Were Not Subject to State Freedom of Information Act

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Finance