U-M Must Break Pledge To Dead White Nationalist, Release Sealed Papers

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 02/13/2026) The University of Michigan historical library must release the papers given to them by a deceased white nationalist under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), even though the school promised to keep them sealed until 2035, the Court of Appeals ruled Friday.

In Friday’s decision, the court removed a $1,000 penalty that had previously been awarded to the person who requested the records.

The case began when Hassan Ahmad, a Virginia-based immigration lawyer, filed a FOIA request asking for access to papers donated to the university by Dr. John Tanton, a well-known figure in the anti-immigration movement. The collection includes letters, research materials and personal writings stored at the university’s Bentley Historical Library.

When Tanton donated the papers, part of the collection was supposed to stay closed to the public until 2035. The university argued that this agreement meant the records were not public documents and did not have to be released.

The courts disagreed.

The appeals panel said earlier rulings in the same case already determined that the papers are public records because they are held by a public university. Under legal rules, those earlier decisions could not be reconsidered.

The university also argued that certain FOIA exemptions should protect the papers from release, including privacy protections and laws that allow libraries to accept restricted donations. The court rejected those arguments.

Judges said privacy protections do not apply because Tanton died in 2019, and Michigan’s FOIA law does not recognize privacy rights for deceased people. They also said that while libraries can accept donations with restrictions, those agreements do not automatically override public records laws unless a statute clearly says so.

The university further argued that forcing it to release the documents would interfere with its constitutional independence as a public university run by elected regents. The appeals court disagreed, saying that following FOIA does not prevent the university from running its academic programs or managing its finances.

While the court largely sided with the records requester, it did rule in the university’s favor on one issue.

The lower court had ordered the university to pay $1,000 in punitive damages, meant to punish public agencies that knowingly and unfairly refuse records requests. The appeals judges said that kind of penalty can only be imposed if the court finds the agency acted in bad faith. Because the lower court did not make that finding, the penalty was removed.

Chief Judge Michael F. Gadola concurred, but wrote a separate opinion agreeing with the outcome but saying he believes an earlier appellate ruling in the case was wrong and suggesting the Michigan Supreme Court may eventually need to revisit the issue.

In an April 2021 split decision, the Supreme Court affirmed the appeals court’s ruling that the records were public.