The University will ignore a court-mandated $500-a-day fine for refusing to turn over presidential search records in hopes that the Louisiana Supreme Court will repeal a previous ruling.
The Board of Supervisors was found in contempt of court on May 1, following its members refusal to release the names of semifinalist candidates for the University’s recently created LSU president position.
The Board received a stay, or temporary suspension from having to pay the fine from May 23 to June 6, but their request for another stay was denied.
When that stay concluded, University attorney Jimmy Faircloth said moving to the state Supreme Court was the next logical step. The court has yet to rule.
Months earlier, former Reveille Editor in Chief Andrea Gallo, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune and The Advocate filed separate lawsuits against the Board of Supervisors for violating public records law in refusing to provide applicants’ names for the president position.
Attorney Loretta Mince, who represents NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune and The Advocate, said contempt of court means the court has ordered the Board to release the records, even if it contends the ruling is incorrect.
Additionally, the court has not ruled in whether Judge Janice Clark was correct in her ruling in public records law, Faircloth said.
Faircloth said the University is in a catch-22 because if it complies with the court order and releases the documents, it will lose its appeal.
Blake Chatelain, Board of Supervisors member and Presidential Search Committee chairman, agreed with Faircloth saying to turn over the names would discard the point of appellate review.
“If we release the records that Judge Clark is asking us to, at that point there is no point for the appellate review,” Chatelain said.
Faircloth described the situation as an “enormous procedural game.”
Gallo says she will not appeal her case against the Board of Supervisors for violating public records law to strengthen NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune and The Advocate’s case.
Since Gallo will not appeal her case, the case between the University and The Advocate and NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune will have to be heard with a 0-1 record and Faircloth will only be able to use the evidence and witnesses he produced in the first case.
“The choice to not appeal is because we don’t want to hurt The Advocate and The Times-Picayune’s lawsuit.,” Gallo said. “In us not appealing, we are actually creating a stronger lawsuit for them. It’s not about who is going to have these records released. It’s just about having the records released.”
Scott Sternberg, Gallo’s attorney, agreed with Gallo saying he believes the records will be overturned.
“The great part about losing is that you’re the one that gets to decide to appeal or not. We figured why take the risk when you’re going to get the records anyway,” Sternberg said.