So over on Deltoid, Eli was reminded that the Albemarle County Circuit Court is Stay tuned to Rabett Run, Facebook for the older set.
UPDATE: News from the Virginia Pilot setting the stage.
UPDATE: A bit more from the Roanoke Times
During a 75-minute hearing, Albemarle County Circuit Judge Paul Peatross repeatedly questioned whether Cuccinelli had defined the “nature of the conduct” that raises the prospect of fraud and justifies a demand for information from the university.
“You need some basis, don’t you?” said Peatross, who told attorneys he will issue a ruling within 10 days,
Deputy Attorney General Wesley Russell argued that Mann applied for grants partly on the basis of statistical research which contains a “pattern of potential manipulation of data.”
Mann is one of the authors of the so-called “hockey stick” graph that depicts sharply rising global temperatures in the last century. He has been a target of global warming skeptics, partly because one of the stone e-mails referenced a “statistical trick” in his research.
Chuck Rosenberg, an attorney retained by UVa, said the term has been taken out of context. He also argued that the attorney general cannot serve a civil investigative demand on a state agency and did not specify conduct that could constitute fraud.
No ruling today, the ruling will come within ten days.
ReplyDeleteDon't feel so old. According to the linked Roanoke article, they were using some kind of ancient tablet:
ReplyDelete". . . stone e-mails referenced a “statistical trick” in his research."
vafreedom's blog contains a good account of the proceedings. Worth reading.
ReplyDeleteWhat Rattus said. Nice work, vafreedom. And did they display any of those "stone" emails?
ReplyDeleteWell, getting the tablets from the Sinai would have been difficult...
ReplyDeleteCoochie loses big time!
ReplyDeleteNot a big enough defeat I'm afraid. Cuccinelli has already stated his intention to re-file and remedy the deficiencies indicated by this ruling.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this does severely limit the amount of quotemining he can potentially partake in, even if he is eventually successful.
The door that the judge left open was pretty damn narrow. Coochie would have to present some sort of objective reason to believe that fraud had been committed. However, as the judge said, the rant about controversy surrounding Mann's work won't cut it. In addition he would have to show that grant monies disbursed after Jan. 1, 2003 were involved. I don't think that he'll be able to meet either of those burdens.
ReplyDeleteOTOH, Coochie could have some real fun investigating the Wegman trio. . .
ReplyDelete