Judge Halts UVA Climate Probe

The University of Virginia does not have relinquish documents connected to climate researcher Michael Mann, a judge ruled on Aug. 30.

Albemarle County Circuit Court Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. rejected orders from Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli Jr. for UVA to produce documents as part of a fraud investigation. Cuccinelli is probing whether Mann, who worked at UVA from 1999 to 2005, committed fraud in connection with four federal grants and a state grant he received that together were worth $484,875 (C&EN, May 10, page 10).

Mann, now director of Pennsylvania State University's Earth System Science Center, developed the once heavily contested "hockey stick" graph of temperature fluctuations over the past millennium. Cuccinelli is a Republican who strongly opposes regulation of greenhouse gases.

Cuccinelli failed to meet a key requirement of the law he is using for the investigation, the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, Peatross ruled. "It is not clear what he [Mann] did that was misleading, false, or fraudulent in obtaining funds from the Commonwealth of Virginia," the judge wrote in a six-page decision.

To obtain documents from UVA under that law, Cuccinelli must describe what he suspects Mann did that was fraudulent, Peatross said. The attorney general "has to have some objective basis" for the investigation, the judge explained.

"This is a victory for scientific discovery," said Francesca Grifo, director of the scientific integrity program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "This ruling makes it clear that when a state attorney general alleges fraud against a scientist, he needs actual evidence to back up his claim."

Peatross specifically rejected Cuccinelli's attempts to probe the four federal grants Mann received while at UVA, one from the National Science Foundation and three from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.

"The attorney general can only investigate funds paid by the Commonwealth for a grant to Dr. Mann," Peatross wrote. The Virginia grant Mann received was for $214,700.

Peatross also delivered what could be construed as a blow to academic freedom at state universities in Virginia. The judge ruled that the university is a corporation under Virginia law. Thus, UVA and other state-supported academic institutions – and researchers they employ -- are fair game for probes by the attorney general under the Virginia fraud statute.

"The attorney general may investigate grants made with Commonwealth of Virginia funds to professors such as Dr. Mann," Peatross ruled.