Massey Sues W.Va. Supreme Court (Again)

Massey Energy Co. has sued to obtain e-mails from Justice Larry Starcher and others at the state Supreme Court that refer to the company or its CEO, Don Blankenship, The Charleston Gazette reports.

The Kanawha Circuit Court lawsuit alleges that the court's administration erred by turning down the company's Freedom of Information Act requests.

A lawyer for Massey told The Gazette that "Starcher's e-mails might be relevant to Massey's appeal of the ($240m) Wheeling-Pitt decision to the U.S. Supreme Court."

Still pending is Massey's federal lawsuit targeting the state Supreme Court over its recusal procedure. Though it does not name him as an individual defendant, that case focuses on refusals to disqualify himself from Massey-related cases by Starcher, a frequent and vocal critic of the company and Blankenship.

Also pending is The Associated Press' lawsuit appealing the Supreme Court's denial of its FOIA requests. Those sought e-mails and other records of contacts between Blankenship and Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard.

Update: Both AP and The Gazette report that Starcher has come out in favor of releasing any relevant e-mails under certain conditions. The justice also said he knew nothing of Massey's FOIA request until he read news of its lawsuit in the newspaper.