Thread by @HMAesq

#TantonPapers Update - We're inching closer to breaking the seal!

Thank you to our lawyer @olcplc for a well-argued Motion to Compel yesterday before the Michigan Court of Claims.

Watch the hearing here (starts at 15:25):

At issue: @UMich has lost all of their "blanket" defenses to disclosure of the #TantonPapers. Only the personal/privacy exemption remained, which exempts info that constitutes a clear invasion of privacy (such as SSN).

So they had to go through 25,000 papers 1 by 1.

They were supposed to list everything in a Vaughn index, but they did such a poor job it didn't help the Court determine whether the exemption applied.

(They said it would have cost them $200,000 to do it, at 2 min per page. Do the math.)

I don't think the Court was happy.

The University could just decide not to fight.

The Court doesn't want to review 25,000 pages.
The University doesn't want to review 25,000 pages.

But I do.

Perhaps the Court was ready to rule in our favor, but UM won a last chance to try to resolve this dispute.
We will work with them to try to hash out a plan to cure the defective Vaughn index.
But listen to the judge's words: they're running out of options.

In any case, we expect any ruling to be appealed back up to the Michigan Supreme Court.

The saga continues...

motherjones.com/politics/2021/…

We talked about this last year on @Alyssa_Milano's podcast @sorrynotsorry if you have the time - understand why this lawsuit is important. There's an arc between Tanton to @StephenM - and Katie McHugh brought receipts:

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whi…