Description: Action to compel response by Oklahoma attorney general to Open Records Act request for documents regarding industry ties of attorney general Scott Pruitt.
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Center for Media & Democracy v. Hunter
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 02/28/2017 Order Download Order issued staying enforcement of trial court order. Oklahoma Supreme Court Stayed Enforcement of Order Requiring Oklahoma Attorney General to Produce Documents Regarding Scott Pruitt’s Industry Ties. The Oklahoma Supreme Court stayed enforcement of a trial court order that directed the Oklahoma attorney general to respond to requests under the Oklahoma Open Records Act (ORA) for records regarding alleged industry ties of former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt. As Oklahoma attorney general, Pruitt challenged a number of EPA regulations, including the Clean Power Plan. The ORA lawsuit was filed after Pruitt’s nomination as EPA administrator. The plaintiff was Center for Media and Democracy, which submitted seven records requests between January 2015 and January 2017. The attorney general’s office acknowledged receipt of each request, but responded only to say that it continued to review the potentially responsive documents and was limited in its ability to respond because it had received so many other ORA requests. On February 16, 2017, the day before Pruitt’s confirmation as EPA administrator, the trial court issued an order finding that for the documents requested in January 2015 there had been an “abject failure to provide prompt and reasonable access.” The court ordered that those documents be produced by February 21. The trial court also ordered the Oklahoma attorney general to produce documents in response to requests made between November 2015 and August 2016 within 10 days. The Oklahoma attorney general produced documents responsive to the January 2015 request but asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court for an emergency stay of the remainder of the order, arguing that the trial court had in effect granted the plaintiff partial summary judgment sua sponte, without allowing the attorney general a meaningful opportunity to be heard. The Oklahoma Supreme Court did not comment on the merits of the attorney general’s appeal in its order granting the stay. 02/23/2017 Motion Download Emergency motion for stay filed. -
Center for Media & Democracy v. Pruitt
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 02/16/2017 Order Order issued requiring production of documents. 02/14/2017 Not Available Download Status report filed by plaintiff. 02/07/2017 Motion Download Motion for temporary restraining order filed. 02/07/2017 Petition Download Petition filed.