Judge tosses out lawsuit to get Blunt e-mails

Earlier this afternoon, Judge Richard Callahan threw out a special investigator's lawsuit attempting to force Gov. Matt Blunt to turn over his e-mail messages:

Callahan found that Mel Fisher, a special investigator appointed by Attorney General Jay Nixon to look at the records, lacked standing to bring the suit to gain access.

The judge also found that Fisher’s claim lacked legal standing to seek the records as a citizen under the state’s Sunshine law.

While the judge’s order today seemed to close the door to access to the e-mails, he left open the possibility that the suit could be corrected and re-filed. He gave Nixon’s lawyer in the case, Chet Pleban, 10 days to amend the suit.