When you work with state level education data, you do so under a research agreement. That means you outline your research agenda and the state agrees to provide data to you to answer your research questions.

You can’t pitch a research project and then go rouge and do whatever with the data.

It looks like the state is interpreting that use of student data as part of the lawsuit to ve outside the scope of the prior approvals, therefore they are preventing Sean and Tom from using the data during the their testimony.

Nothing prevents the defense to subpoena the same data and have them use it for their testimony.