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January 2010 - South Hadley - Undated family photo of Phoebe Nora Mary Prince, 15, who apparently committed suicide on January 14, 2010.

NORTHAMPTON - A writer who has covered a South Hadley bullying case has won access to the records regarding the financial settlement the town reached with Phoebe Prince's parents.

Under the decision handed down Friday, Hampshire Superior Court Judge Mary-Lou Rup ruled that Emily Bazelon, a reporter and senior editor with the online daily news website Slate, has the right to inspect the documents, although South Hadley has until Dec. 30 to appeal the order.

"I think it was the right decision and I look forward to publishing the settlement as soon as we get it," Bazelon said in a phone interview Friday evening.

The case stems from the January 2010 suicide of South Hadley High School freshman Phoebe Prince following relentless bullying by schoolmates, who later faced criminal charges for their actions.

Bazelon filed the lawsuit in Superior Court earlier this month, with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union, arguing that the settlement was underwritten by taxpayer funds paid to Argonaut Group of Greenfield that insures South Hadley against liability lawsuits.

The lawsuit maintained that because taxpayer money was used to pay Argonaut, the undisclosed details of the settlement should be made public.

"Its hard to judge how the allegations and compliant were handled and also the merits of the compliant itself without knowing what was involved," Bazelon said.

William Newman, a Northampton attorney with the ACLU Western Massachusetts office who represented Bazelon, said today that the decision "was a victory for the public's right to know and for transparency in government."

That sentiment was echoed by Bazelon, who noted that the principal of a free press was at stake in the case.

Most government entitities carry insurance policies, she said. But the idea that a government body could outsource legal negotiations to an insurance company and then hide behind a non-disclosure agreement leaves taxpayers with no way of evaluating how their money is being spent, she said.

"That cannot be right," she said.

The town's position in this case, therefore, ran afoul of the spirit of public disclosure laws and reporters' ability to access public information, she said.

According to Newman, Bazelon had tried several times to get the settlement figure made public before filing the lawsuit.

He said today that keeping the details of the settlement private, even for a small amount of time, represented "irreparable harm" to Bazelon and the public.

South Hadley's town counsel, Edward J. Ryan Jr., had argued against public disclosure on the grounds the settlement was paid with insurance company money rather than taxpayer funds. In addition, he argued the Prince family was barred from disclosing the settlement figure, and that making that information public would violate attorney-client privilege.

He could not be reached for comment Friday.

Prince, a 15-year-old transfer student from Ireland, hanged herself in the family home following verbal and physical harassment from some classmates. After they admitted they taunted and threatened Prince, five of her former classmates were placed on probation earlier this year.

Staff Writer Ben Storrow contributed to this story.