Idaho Lt. Gov. McGeachin’s contempt hearing set for Oct. 13

lawsuit-scales

Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin will face a hearing next week on whether she should be held in contempt of court for failing to comply with a judge’s order in a public records lawsuit.

Fourth District Judge Steven Hippler ordered the contempt hearing set for Oct. 13, according to court records. The Idaho Press Club last month asked that the lieutenant governor face civil contempt proceedings after it said she failed to comply with a judge’s order in the lawsuit and stalled rather than immediately releasing the public records as ordered.

The Idaho Press Club sued McGeachin in July after several journalists said she wrongly denied public record requests for materials relating to her new Education Task Force. The task force was tasked with investigating alleged “indoctrination” in the state’s public school system, something McGeachin said was necessary to “protect our young people from the scourge of critical race theory, socialism, communism and Marxism.” The lieutenant governor lost the lawsuit, and Hippler ordered her to release the documents.

At the end of September, the Idaho Press Club asked the judge to hold McGeachin in contempt of court and order her to be detained in jail until she turned over the documents. The next day Hippler formally denied McGeachin’s request for reconsideration, and the lieutenant governor’s officer released the public records a short time later.

Last week McGeachin’s office asked the state for an additional $50,000 to cover its legal bills from the public record lawsuit. McGeachin hired a private attorney for the case after first being represented by the Idaho Attorney General’s Office.

If Hippler finds McGeachin acted in contempt, he could fine her or have her face other penalties. (AP)

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