Virginia Department of Corrections v. Insider, Inc.
Case Number: 1626-24-2
Court: Virginia Court of Appeals
Clients: Insider, Inc., Hannah Beckler, and Ian Kalish
Background: In 2023, Business Insider published a three-part series and an accompanying documentary cataloging hundreds of incidents in which patrol dogs have bitten or mauled inmates inside U.S. prisons, including in Virginia, where the state Department of Corrections has deployed dogs 18 times more often than any other state.
The investigation — reported by Hannah Beckler, senior editor on Business Insider’s investigations team — used hundreds of Virginia Department of Corrections records about its use of attack-trained dogs obtained with free legal support from the UVA First Amendment Clinic, which is run by attorneys from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
To continue her reporting, Beckler requested more records that chronicled incidents where prison dogs had attacked inmates from the VADOC under the state’s Freedom of Information Act. With Ian Kalish, a clinical supervising attorney at the Reporters Committee, Beckler and Business Insider specifically sought access to surveillance footage from Virginia’s super-maximum security Red Onion State Prison, which recorded the most bites of any prison in her investigation, and written reports of 12 bites that took place in VADOC facilities.
The VADOC denied the request. In January 2024, Beckler, Business Insider, and Kalish sued the department to compel the release of the records. After a Charlottesville trial court ordered the records’ release with limited redactions, the VADOC appealed its decision.
The Virginia Court of Appeals sided with the VADOC in October 2025, concluding that the records are subject to an exemption under VFOIA that protects prisoner records. Beckler, Business Insider, and Kalish, represented by Reporters Committee Senior Staff Attorney Lin Weeks, have asked the Virginia Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeals decision.
Filings:
2024-02-01: Petition for writ of mandamus
2024-02-01: Memorandum in support of petition for writ of mandamus
2024-03-22: Response in opposition to plaintiff’s petition for writ of mandamus
2024-09-05: Order
2025-02-05: Amended opening brief of appellant
2025-03-19: Brief of appellees
2025-04-14: Reply brief of appellant
2025-04-28: Appellees’ reply brief in support of cross-error
2025-10-28: Opinion
2026-01-15: Petition for appeal