CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A state Supreme Court justice says West Virginia's Freedom of Information laws are too narrow to fully serve the public's right to know, and some lawmakers are willing to look at changing the code.



Justice Margaret Workman wrote Wednesday that the Freedom of Information Act should be changed so that the context in which records are produced can be considered when deciding if they qualify as public records open to view by all.



"This legislative change is sorely needed if our state is to continue developing a vivacious body of law regarding the right of the public to full information," she wrote.



Workman was writing in dissent of a 4-1 Supreme Court decision that ruled 13 e-mails between former Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard and Massey Energy Chief Executive Don Blankenship are not public records.



The Associated Press had sued for access to the e-mails, which were written at a time that Massey had pending cases before the court and Maynard was seeking re-election. Kanawha County Circuit Judge Duke Bloom ruled that five of the e-mails counted as public documents, because they touched on Maynard's campaign.



The Supreme Court overturned Bloom's ruling, saying that none of the e-mails are public because the context in which they were produced doesn't matter, only their content. The four justices in the majority determined that the content did not concern public business.