Ruling has something for both sides

A judge has handed down his ruling in a dispute between a Spartanburg television station and the city of Seneca. Tenth Circuit Judge Cordell Maddox ruled that materials sought by WSPA should be produced “with the exception,” Maddox wrote, “of those items listed in a forthcoming order.” The judge’s decision, filed yesterday in the Oconee Common Pleas Court, arises from a challenge by TV reporter Robin Kanady to a Seneca Police Department decision to withhold some of its documents in an internal police investigation of sex harassment accusations made against police officers. Maddox said the police officers involved had either resigned or were removed from their positions. The TV station filed a FOIA request, which the police department denied, citing privacy considerations. In deciding the case, Maddox said he reviewed the contested documents “in camera.”