Secrecy costs $541,000 in WA.
by Swartz, Nikki
Withholding public records will cost Washington's Department
of Corrections $541,000--the largest penalty of its kind slapped on a
public agency in the state.
In June, Thurston County Superior Court approved the settlement
ordering the department to pay the huge sum to a small inmate-rights
publication and its attorneys. According to The News Tribune, the
department violated Washington's Public Disclosure Act (PDA) when
it denied an inmate's request for documents detailing disciplinary
actions taken against prison medical providers and the providers'
names.
The inmate, founder of Prison Legal News, a small-circulation
newspaper addressing prison issues, was investigating who had treated 10
inmates who later were found seriously injured or dead.
Even though the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of Prison Legal
News last year, the corrections department continued to withhold the
requested information--the main reason the department received such a
high penalty, according to The News Tribune.
In a separate 2005 opinion, the high court specified the
requirements of Washington's PDA, including:
* "The PDA is a strongly worded mandate for broad disclosure
of public records."
* "Any written information about government conduct is a
public record, regardless of its physical form or characteristics."
* "We construe exemptions to the PDA narrowly"
COPYRIGHT 2007 Association of Records Managers &
Administrators (ARMA) Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Copyright 2007 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights
reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.