The University is set to appear in the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeals on April 1 to appeal the rulings in the lawsuit filed against the University in April 2013, said the University’s attorney Jimmy Faircloth.
The Advocate and NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune initially sued the University when it failed to release information about potential candidates for the president search prior to the hiring of LSU President F. King Alexander. Baton Rouge District Judge Janice Clark ruled in favor of the media outlets and said the documents fell into the category of public records.
Clark then ruled the University was in contempt of court in August after it failed to turn over the candidate information as dictated by the ruling in April, imposing a $500-per-day fine from the day she made her first ruling in April.
Lori Mince, lawyer for The Advocate and NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune, said the current total of court fees owed by the University is in excess of $50,000, on top of what is owed in attorney fees and the fines for the days leading up to when the president’s search documents were submitted to Clark in September 2013.
LSU lead legal counsel Shelby McKenzie said in an email in September that the LSU Board of Supervisors will not pay the fines owed until the case has been through the entire process of appeals.
Former Editor in Chief of The Daily Reveille Andrea Gallo filed a similar but separate lawsuit against the University on April 1, 2013, but a judge ultimately sided with the University in that case, saying the names were not public record.