Court again denies Baltimore's appeal to block inspector general's access to records

Baltimore City filed another emergency appeal Friday in its fight to block Inspector General Isabel Cumming from accessing city records, and once again it was denied. 

In the newly-filed court documents, the city's top lawyer argued that the circuit court's order to restore Cumming's access defied well-settled Maryland law and would cause "irreparable harm and immense financial burden to the city by tomorrow."

The new court filing added, "Since the irreparable harm to the city is only two days away, the city files this as an emergency motion." In addition, the city requests "a stay of the order for however long it takes for this court to decide Part II of the motion."    

Maryland's Appellate Court denied the appeal Friday evening, "because the City has not demonstrated that it will suffer irreparable harm absent a stay."

"We do not interpret the circuit court's ruling to require the City to grant the Office of the Inspector General access to, or otherwise produce to the Office of the Inspector General, attorney-client privileged communications or work-product generated in this litigation," the appellate court wrote in its ruling. 

Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott addressed the ongoing legal battle during an unrelated event Friday. 

"I'm not hiding anything. I'm fighting for Baltimoreans to have a system that works. There's a system that exists, like the one that exists in Howard County and in Baltimore County," the mayor said. "This is just a legal process, and when this legal process is done, we will follow the law that is given to us through that legal process, period."

Judge awarded win for inspector general

Circuit Court Judge Pamela White ruled last week, requiring the city to restore Cumming's access to computer systems within two days and comply with her office's subpoenas. 

"When the city abruptly and adversely changed OIG's operating circumstances, consequently interfering with Plaintiffs' performance of Charter responsibilities, Plaintiffs identified and established the existence of an actual and justiciable controversy: subpoenas are outstanding, standard investigative practices cut off, access to databases shut down," White wrote in her ruling. "OIG investigations are restricted, severely limited without direct access to employee emails and data. Plaintiffs' critical role to root out governmental fraud, finance waste, and abuse is obstructed by Defendant's interference with OIG's investigatory performance."

During the hearing, White said she was "deeply disappointed" with the city's explanations for suddenly cutting off the inspector general's access in January.

She told Renita Collins, the city's primary attorney in the case, that she was "making no sense" with some of her arguments and said she was "stunned" by the city's distrust of the inspector general.

White repeatedly said the inspector general should have access to records needed to complete investigations without revealing the targets of those investigations.

The judge also said she would issue an order requiring city officials to turn over documents related to the Sidestep youth program, which was overseen by the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, or MONSE.

Scott appealed White's ruling earlier this week. On Wednesday, the state's appellate court temporarily paused the judge's order, stating that the lower court must first rule on another motion before a full appeal can proceed.

The appellate court had previously rejected an appeal filed by the mayor's administration on Sept. 14.

The months-long legal dispute

Since January, the inspector general's office has issued 19 subpoenas, 11 of which were sent to the Baltimore City department responsible for information technology. One subpoena was sent to MONSE seeking Slack communications.

The inspector general's office has also sought emails from 36 city employees. So far, the city has provided emails from only one employee.

Collins argued that reviewing every email is time-consuming because city attorneys must determine whether the messages contain attorney-client-privileged information or other protected material. Collins said city officials asked Cumming to narrow the requests but claimed she was uncooperative.

Cumming's legal team argued that the issue could have been avoided if the city had restored her access to Baltimore's computer servers.

Nearly 180 pages of documents were also redacted by the city after attorneys argued they contained information about juveniles and medical records that should not be disclosed.

The city previously said it cooperated and resolved the MONSE records request, but OIG attorneys disputed that claim.

"As this matter is the subject of active litigation, the City will reserve comment for the appropriate judicial forum," the mayor's office told CBS News Baltimore.