"RICHMOND -- After two years and more than half a million dollars in legal fees, the Virginia Supreme Court on Friday rejected Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II's assertion that the state's flagship university had to turn over documents related to global warming. The decision was a defeat for Cuccinelli (R), a global-warming skeptic who has garnered national attention for a string of high-profile lawsuits, just as he kicks off his campaign for governor next year. ..."

"The state's highest court wrote in an opinion that Cuccinelli lacked the authority to subpoena records — including e-mails, drafts and handwritten notes — from the University of Virginia involving well-known climate scientist Michael Mann's research.

Mann, now a professor at Pennsylvania State University, accused the attorney general of engaging in a two-year 'character assassination' against him. He just completed a book, 'The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars,' about global-warming skeptics, including Cuccinelli, and what he calls their attacks on scientists."

Anita Kumar reports for the Washington Post March 2, 2012. [2]