There’s just no polite way to put this: The state Supreme Court blew it.
In a 7-2 ruling last week, the court essentially decided that judicial administrative records are exempt from the state Public Records Act. The rationale: The courts aren’t “agencies” of government, or at least they’re not clearly defined as such in the act.
The case was City of Federal Way vs. Koenig, in which the city refused to release correspondence to and from embattled Municipal Court Judge Michael Morgan. In deciding against the records request, the Supreme Court is saying that the Municipal Court is not an agency of the City of Federal Way.
Tell that to the City Council, which in August decided that it made more sense to keep the Municipal Court under city control rather than contracting out its misdemeanor caseload to King County District Court. How can anyone look at that and not interpret the court as an agency of the city?
The PRA defines a “local agency” as a “county, city, town, municipal corporation, quasi-municipal corporation, or any special purpose district, or any office, department, division, bureau, board, commission or agency thereof, or other public agency.”
The magic word, “court,” is nowhere in there. And so the justices ruled that courts – which presumably includes their own – are exempt. Although court case records are public, the ruling means courts can refuse to release the kinds of e-mails and other documents that citizens and reporters need to keep judges accountable.
Two justices disagreed with the majority decision. In writing for the dissent, which was also signed by Chief Justice Gerry Alexander, Justice Debra L. Stephens got it right: “I believe our branch of government is an ‘agency’ subject to the strictures of the PRA.” And, “In the end, I believe we do a disservice to interpret the PRA, a broad mandate for open government, to exempt entirely the judicial branch of government.”
The majority cited legislative inaction on modifying the PRA to specifically include court administrative records. That can be easily remedied, and should become a top priority for open government advocates in the 2010 session.
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