Washington State Settles Public Records Claim for $65K
Another day, another dollar (actually 65,000 of them) paid out under the Public Records Act. The Washington Attorney General's Office and the Department of Corrections split the bill to settle a claim by the Washington Coalition for Open Government. WCOG alleged that the AG's Office had helped corrections officers sue to stop disclosure of records requested by a prisoner. This case had its origins with the same arsonist, Allan Parmelee, whose frequent records requests prompted the State Legislature to allow injunctions against harassing and abusive requests.
