The Virginia Supreme Court has denied the state attorney general's demand for records from climate scientist Michael Mann's tenure at the University of Virginia.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R), a climate skeptic, filed a civil investigative demand -- similar to a subpoena -- for emails, grant applications and other documents in 2010, seeking information to determine whether Mann violated an obscure state fraud statute.

Mann, now a professor at Pennsylvania State University, is famous for the "hockey stick" graph, which depicts a sharp rise in global temperatures in the latter half of the 20th century. Often cited as evidence that human activities have driven unprecedented warming of the climate over the last several decades, it has become a favorite target of climate skeptics (ClimateWire, Feb. 21).

In its ruling Friday, the Virginia Supreme Court concluded that Cuccinelli did not have the authority to compel the University of Virginia to provide the records he sought.

"The University of Virginia, as an agency of the commonwealth, does not constitute a 'person' under the Fraud Against Taxpayers Act and therefore cannot be the proper subject" of Cuccinelli's civil investigative demand, state Supreme Court Justice Leroy Millette Jr. said in the court's majority opinion.

The high court's decision comes after Cuccinelli appealed a ruling by a lower court that found he did have the authority to demand such records but hadn't provided sufficient evidence to justify his probe of Mann's work.

"Today, the court effectively held that state agencies do not have to provide state-owned property to state investigators looking into potential fraud involving government funds," Cuccinelli said in a statement released Friday.

University applauds decision

The attorney general also said he would drop a related records demand still pending in Albemarle County, Va., Circuit Court.

University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan called the ruling "an important decision that will be welcomed here and in the broader higher education community."

Mann, the scientist at the heart of the controversy, said he also welcomed the ruling, noting that his work has been investigated and cleared by the National Science Foundation since Cuccinelli began his probe.

"I'm pleased that this particular episode is over," Mann said in a statement. "It's sad, though, that so much money and resources had to be wasted on Cuccinelli's witch hunt against me and the University of Virginia, when it could have been invested, for example, in measures to protect Virginia's coast line from the damaging effects of sea level rise it is already seeing."

The University of Virginia, which hired outside counsel to fight Cuccinelli's records demands, said it has spent $570,698 on the matter, paying that tab with private funds.

But for the school and the scientist, the legal wrangling is not over. Mann and the university still face a legal challenge from the conservative American Tradition Institute, which is seeking records related to Mann's tenure at the University of Virginia under the state's Freedom of Information Act.