West Virginia

A West Virginia daycare owner’s claims against a local television station that reported “serious allegations of abuse and neglect” at the facility, but omitted the fact that the single incident involved child-on-child contact, should have been decided by a jury, a federal appeals court recently held.

A West Virginia trial judge erred when she ordered a newspaper to reveal the identities of anonymous sources and documents in a defamation suit against the paper, the state’s highest court recently ruled.

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia returned the case to the lower court, which must identify and analyze each allegedly defamatory statement and the confidential source who made the statement separately.

West Virginia earlier this week became the 40th state, along with the District of Columbia, to provide statutory protection for subpoenaed reporters when acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed the state shield bill.

The law will take effect on June 10.

The West Virginia Legislature passed a state shield law for reporters over the weekend. The bill will now go to acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin for his signature. If signed into law, West Virginia would become the 40th state, along with the District of Columbia, to provide statutory protection to subpoenaed reporters.

A newspaper in West Virginia is attempting to maintain its privilege to refuse to disclose confidential sources after a lower-court judge ordered the paper to reveal the identities of anonymous sources and documents in a defamation suit against the paper.

The Lincoln Journal, the defendant in the suit, appealed the judge’s ruling to the state Supreme Court in order to keep its sources anonymous in the case. The court heard oral arguments Tuesday.

A West Virginia judge Monday dropped all charges filed against the publisher of a West Virginia monthly paper who photographed a worker inside a polling station during an election, according to court documents.

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that signatures for a voter referendum are considered public documents subject to disclosure under the state’s freedom of information laws. The decision reversed a lower court's ruling that upheld a county clerk’s denial of a FOIA request by The Shepherdstown Observer newspaper.

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals heard oral arguments last Wednesday on whether to overturn a lower court ruling finding that petition signatures for a voter referendum are not public documents and, therefore, not subject to disclosure under the state’s freedom of information laws.