Prosecutor Sued For Dodging FOIA Request Into Past Ethical Violations

Prosecutor denies FOIA request and lands in court.

If you’re a grandstanding prosecutor trying to bolster your tough-as-nails bona fides, it must really irk you when some journalist tries to dredge up the records of the disciplinary actions you’ve faced. Unfortunately, that’s not an excuse to just ignore a FOIA request, which is why South Carolina’s 9th Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson — the prosecutor in the Charleston Shooting/Dylann Roof case — is getting sued by South Carolina Lawyers Weekly.

We reported on the original FOIA request back in July, quoting South Carolina Lawyers Weekly:

But the allegations that underlie the grievance against Scott appear to be connected to cases that have garnered little, if any, attention.

Sources close to the situation say the commission took action against Wilson after an assistant public defender complained that prosecutors had been meeting with inmates at the Charleston County jail without getting permission from their public defenders.

Which is certainly not ideal. The publication believes that the commission issued one of the two non-public disciplinary actions at its disposal, either a letter of caution or confidential admonition, and asked Wilson to hand over the documents — a reasonable request that Wilson promptly refused.

Wilson argued that FOIA wouldn’t apply to any disciplinary documents that would be directed at her and not her office (a cute trick if the complained of behavior really arose from abusing her public office as sources suggest), that the records are deemed confidential by statute (a provision that only prevents the commission from disclosing the letters), that the records are exempted from disclosure (a claim for which she makes no citation), and that the documents violate attorney-client privilege (… because she represents the government and ordering the government to violate legal ethics is a communication? I guess?). Needless to say, South Carolina Lawyers Weekly did not accept these excuses and filed suit.

So the wheel turns. Given how fiercely Wilson is fighting this issue, it’s tempting to assume there’s some fire underneath all this smoke, but it’s unfair to prejudge the situation. I mean, what kind of lawyer would assume guilt just because we have some still unsubstantiated allegations and a person so reticent to open up their past to scrutiny that she’s trying to invoke legal technicalities to avoid the investigation?

*Cough* *prosecutors* *cough*.

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(The full complaint — complete with Wilson’s official response to the FOIA request — is available on the next page…)

Lawyers Weekly Sues Solicitor Over Public Records [SC Lawyers Weekly]

Earlier: Charleston Shooting Prosecutor Hit With Ethics Violations? FOIA Request Seeks Answers.

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