WashCOG shares Redistricting Commission lawsuit documents
The Washington Coalition for Open Government has posted the sworn depositions of Washington State Redistricting Commission commissioners that shed light on the agency’s activities and open meetings violations of 2021.
WashCOG in December 2021 sued the commission to hold its members accountable for violating the state Open Public Meetings Act and to impose reforms so future commissions don’t make the same mistakes.
We succeeded on both fronts when the commission agreed to settle the lawsuit in February 2022.
Because litigation is a fact-finding exercise, we also saw our lawsuit as a way to establish what happened and put it into the public record. Our attorney and board colleague Joan Mell deposed, under oath, commission staff and the commissioners themselves.
The depositions provide a detailed account of the commission’s actions, particularly during and after its controversial public meeting of Nov. 15, 2021. Commissioners that night secretly negotiated the boundaries for legislative and congressional district maps. They then held a series of votes on matters that observers were unable to see before quickly adjourning without explanation.
WashCOG is also sharing the consent decree and final judgment in Thurston County Superior Court. The document includes agreed-upon facts that establish what happened during and after the commission’s Nov. 15 meeting. It is available here to make the story more widely available to the public.
3-4-2022 - WCOG-Redistricting Commission Consent Decree & Final Judgment
