Thurston County Court rules legislators can withhold docs
Washington state legislators can deny access to public records under an expanded definition of “legislative privilege,” a Thurston County Superior Court judge ruled Nov. 17, 2023.
The ruling by Judge Anne Egeler came in the case of Jamie Nixon and the Washington Coalition for Open Government v. the State of Washington.
Nixon and WashCOG filed a petition against the state in April to challenge the state Legislature’s new and unannounced use of a “legislative privilege” to withhold a surprising array of documents from the public and the press.
In a separate case, another Thurston County Superior Court judge in October affirmed the existence of a “legislative privilege” that lawmakers can use to withhold records of “internal legislative deliberations concerning bills contemplated or introduced in either house of the Legislature.”
WashCOG has consistently argued that lawmakers’ use of “legislative privilege” is unsupported by state statutes, state case law and even the state Constitution that legislators cite as the source for their right to secrecy.
The Washington State Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that state legislators are subject to the Public Records Act, which was adopted by referendum in 1972.
Coverage of this issue:
TVW: Recording of the Thurston County Superior Court hearing on Nov. 17, 2023
Salish Current: Open government vs ‘Legislative privilege’ in long legal fight
Tri-City Herald editorial - Stubborn WA state lawmakers choose the ‘black hole’ of secrecy again
The Center Square - WA lawmakers have ‘legislative privilege’ to withhold records, judge rules
The Seattle Times - Judge rules WA lawmakers can withhold documents via ‘legislative privilege”
WashCOG media background on the state legislature’s new secrecy claim
