Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Pamela J. White today denied the city’s motion to seal parts of the inspector general’s lawsuit seeking judicial enforcement of its subpoenas, marking another legal setback for Mayor Brandon Scott.

The ruling comes on the heels of an earlier decision by White that denied the city’s motion to disqualify the inspector general’s outside counsel. Following that decision, Mayor Scott said he would introduce legislation in the City Council that would install a “designated legal representative” to oversee IG investigations of alleged waste, fraud and abuse in his administration.

Seeking to seal certain documents pertaining to the dispute, City Solicitor Ebony Thompson argued that Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming had attached privileged documents and communications to her lawsuit contrary to the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) and attorney-client privilege.

White today ruled that the city had not “clearly or convincingly” shown that the IG’s lawsuit “would be contrary to federal law, Maryland law or the Maryland Rules.”

Stripped of legalese, the judge is questioning the “full power” that Thompson asserts her office and the mayor hold in directing the work of the inspector general.

In 2018, voters overwhelmingly approved a charter amendment to make the inspector general’s office independent of the law department and mayor and, in 2022, approved a citizens’ advisory board to replace an IG board dominated by appointees of the mayor and other elected officials.

In a footnote to today’s ruling, White reaffirmed her decision that Cumming and the IG board had the right to retain outside counsel to pursue their lawsuit. Last week the law department reiterated its belief that White’s decision was wrong: the IG must be represented by the city solicitor and was bound to interpretations of the law the city solicitor made.

Cumming’s lawsuit “provokes questions about the role and responsibility of the city solicitor as to enforcement of OIG investigatory inquiries and subpoenas”  – Judge Pamela White.

The IG’s access to city agencies and contractor files “without obstruction or limitation by decisions of the city law department” and “with or without the applicability of MPIA” lies at the heart of the lawsuit she is hearing, White wrote.

Cumming’s accusations that her statutory duties are being obstructed “provoke questions about the role and responsibility of the city solicitor as to enforcement of OIG investigatory inquiries and subpoenas,” the judge continued, rejecting the city’s contention that confidentiality of attorney-client communications were being violated by the IG.

Some of these communications were already disclosed in an article in The Brew.

They included correspondence from former City Solicitor Andre A. Davis, who endorsed the inspector general’s right to enforce subpoenas, and from former Acting Solicitor Dana P. Moore, who instructed the city technology office to provide the OIG with full access to city servers and databases.

Judge White also rejected the city’s motion to seal correspondence between Thompson’s office and Cumming related to the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE).

White wrote that “conflicts of interest” may arise between the interests of MONSE and the IG, “thus preventing the city solicitor’s professionally independent and diligent representation of each unit” as required under the Maryland Attorneys’ Rules of Professional Conduct.

• For background and analysis, see The Brew’s detailed coverage: IG Fights Back After Scott Neuters her Powers.