Court upholds public records lawsuit, penalties against Lafayette city marshal

An appellate court panel on Wednesday upheld The Independent's lawsuit against Lafayette City Marshal Brian Pope, who argued the newspaper had no legal basis for filing the suit.

A three-judge panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeal also lodged against the marshal more than $6,300 in the court costs of his appeal in which he sought to overturn a January judgment against him for withholding public records from the newspaper.

Pope's attorney argued The Independent had no right to file the suit because its reporter, Christiaan Mader — and not the newspaper — requested the records and that only a person has the right to sue for public records.

If successful, the argument would have voided the entire suit.

Read more: http://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/article_18595bc4-85a6-11e6-b16a-a3209ec0f533.html