South Carolina and the FOIA

Typically, the Attorney General (AG) is charged with enforcing the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which requires all public officials to release public documents within 15 days of an FOIA request. The public official has to comply with the request, regardless of whether it is made by the press or the public.

The Attorney General Wilson, however, has been fighting for eight months to dodge every FOIA request from former James Brown trustee Adele Pope. Pope has asked for a copy of the Legacy trust that was formed when the former AG took over Brown’s $100 million empire in a settlement deal with six of Brown’s children and his companion. She also asked for documents that explained why the legacy trust valued Brown’s music empire at less than $4.7 million upon his death on December 25, 2006.

The AG has made varying arguments to avoid the release of the Brown documents at issue. Pope filed FOIA lawsuits in August in Newberry County, which should be ready for a final hearing because the questions involved in that case could be answered without a jury.

These denials are also raising questions about how strong the FOIA is in South Carolina. The Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity complied a report on “corruption risk” and South Carolina was ranked fifth in the nation. There is no agency to ensure compliance with the FOIA and no appeals process. Courts cannot even fully fulfill FOIA’s promise when the agency that is supposed to be enforcing the law is the agency trying to dodge the law.

See AG Wilson Continues Battle to Conceal James Brown Documents and Deny FOIA Requests (SC), Estate of Denial, Mar. 27, 2012.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.