The state Supreme Court has brought an end to a high-profile legal battle over university research into the origins of COVID-19. The North Carolina Supreme Court has declined to review a public records lawsuit targeting the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
A national investigative group, U.S. Right to Know, sued the university in 2020. The group wanted to force the release of thousands of emails and documents from UNC researcher Dr. Ralph Baric, focusing on his past work with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. While UNC released more than 130,000 pages, it withheld 5,205 documents, citing a state law that protects competitive university research.
State appeals courts previously ruled that UNC could legally shield those files. The Supreme Court's refusal to take the case leaves those rulings intact.
