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Approximately 48 hours after oral argument, a unanimous Washington State Supreme Court issued an order in Morgan v. City of Federal Way that authorized the City of Federal Way to release the "Stephson Report."  An opinion will follow in the next few months.  (The order was slightly revised on Friday -- here is the final amended order.)  This is the relief sought by the City and the Tacoma News Tribune. 

Here is an analysis of the order from the Supreme Court of Washington Blog by EFF. 

Here are posts on the ruling at the Bellingham Herald,  Washington Policy Blog, the Og-Blog and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press blog.

Foster Pepper represented the City of Federal Way in this case.

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Update

Steve Maynard, the requester in Morgan, summarizes oral arguments in this TNT article: "Attorneys, Supreme Court justices joust over Federal Way judge investigation." 

Here is a TNT editorial on the Morgan case:   "FWay court probe should be public"

Here's a nice summary of the issues in both Morgan and Koenig from the Supreme Court of Washington Blog by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. 

Original Post

The Washington State Supreme Court arguments for Morgan v. City of Federal Way and City of Federal Way v. Koenig (like all arguments) were televised and available on the web on TVW.   For more information on the issues in the case, see this post. 

Here are the videos: 

Morgan v. City of Federal Way. 

John Schochet, representing Judge Morgan, argues first. 

James Beck, representing the Tacoma News Tribune, starts at 17:20.

Ramsey Ramerman, representing the City of Federal Way, starts at 25:10.

John Schochet's rebuttal starts at 38:45. 

City of Federal Way v. Koenig

William Crittenden, representing Mr. Koenig, starts.

Ramsey Ramerman, representing the City of Federal Way, begins at 13:20.

Mr. Crittenden's rebuttal begins at 30:45.

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On Tuesday, June 9, the Chair of Foster Pepper's Public Disclosure Team and editor of this blog, Ramsey Ramerman, will be arguing two cases on behalf of the City of Federal Way in the Washington State Supreme Court.  Here are the issue statements from the Supreme Court's website:

City of Federal Way v. Koenig:

Open Government—Public Disclosure—“Local Agency”—What Constitutes—Municipal Court

Whether the Federal Way Municipal Court is a “local agency” subject to the disclosure requirements of the Public Records Act, chapter 42.56 RCW.

Morgan v. City of Federal Way:

Public Records—Exemptions to Disclosure—Municipal Court Judge—City Investigative Report—Court Records—Attorney Work Project—Attorney-Client Communications

Whether a City of Federal Way investigative report concerning a municipal court judge is a court record, attorney work product, or attorney-client communication exempt from disclosure pursuant to Public Records Act, chapter 42.56 RCW.

 You can download PDF copies of the briefs here.  You can watch the arguments live starting at 1:30 on Tuesday on TVW.

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Update 6/6

As reported by the Huffington Post, President Obama has now included a provision in a war-funding bill that would protect the detainee abuse photos from disclosure. 

Update 6/2

McLatchy Reports: "Why'd Obama switch on detainee photos? Maliki went ballistic."  While fear of foreign uprisings may not be an exemption under FOIA, maybe it should be.

Update 5/19

A federal appeals court has now affirmed the position of President Obama that White House Office of Administration is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, reasoning that the entity only implements administrative decisions and does not form policy.

Update 5/16

Here is some more food for thought on the President's reasons for not releasing the photos.

Update 5/15

As noted in this article, "Like Bush, Obama White House Chooses Secrecy for Key Office," President Obama is continuing the Bush-era policy of exempting the White House Office of Administration from the Freedom of Information Act.  The article ends by reminding reader's of one of the President's campaign promises on openness:

"More and more, the real business of our democracy isn't done in town halls or public meetings or even in the open halls of Congress," he told an Iowa audience in 2007. "Decisions are made in closed-door meetings, or with the silent stroke of the President's pen, or because some lobbyist got some Congressman to slip his pet project into a bill during the dead of night. We have to take the blinders off the White House."

President Obama has now reversed his position on the release of the additional photographs showing the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib.  When the first batch of photos were released in 2004, it caused world-wide outrage.  This article analyzes and deconstructs the six reasons  President Obama seems to be relying on for this change. 

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