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A coal executive has asked the West Virginia Supreme Court to reconsider its dismissal of a $50 million jury verdict against competitor Massey Energy after improper relationships between sitting justices and Massey executives came to light, The Charleston Gazette reported.

Hugh Caperton, the owner of Harman Mining Co., had sued Massey for unfair business practices and was awarded $50 million by a jury. But the state Supreme Court overturned the award on two separate occasions.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino was ordered to turn over the computer and software of a senior aide after his office provided only 18 e-mail messages from the aide over a six-month period in response to a request from the Boston Globe, the newspaper reported.

An Alaska Superior Court judge ruled today that former Republican Gov. Sarah Palin’s use of private e-mail accounts was not a violation of the state open records law.

The Associated Press reported that “Superior Court Judge Jack W. Smith said in his ruling that there is no provision in Alaska state law that prohibits the use of private e-mail accounts when conducting state business.”

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. said Tuesday that records of missing e-mail from the Bush White House do not have to be turned over because the office that created them is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said he will allow the public to see e-mail he sent privately in his first two years in office -- even as counterparts in other states fight for the opposite result.

In refusing to hear the latest appeal from state Republicans on the issue, New Jersey’s highest court has ensured that e-mail messages exchanged between the Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine and his former union leader ex-girlfriend about a state labor contract will not be forcibly released.

A 10-month-old lawsuit claiming that Venice, Fla. city officials violated the state's Government-in-the-Sunshine Law by using personal e-mail accounts to conduct official business ended last week with the council approving a settlement, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports.

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, fresh off his stint in jail, is suing telecommunications company SkyTel for releasing his text messages, the AM Law Daily reports. The company reportedly claims it did so appropriately under court order.

A lengthy investigation in Missouri has bolstered allegations that former Gov. Matt Blunt's administration violated various state open records laws, the Associated Press reports.

Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons is legally obligated to turn over just six of the 104 e-mails requested by the Reno Gazette-Journal, a judge decided on Wednesday.