Foster Garvey’s Pro Bono Efforts in a Landmark Washington Supreme Court Case

Foster Garvey attorneys Andrea Bradford (Principal, Seattle), Bob Sterbank (Counsel, Seattle) and Adrian Urquhart Winder (Principal, Seattle), along with Jonathan Collins and Bianca Chamusco, authored an amicus brief on behalf of the Washington State Association of Municipal Attorneys (WSAMA) for the Washington Supreme Court, in a case involving the actions of Seattle Police Department (SPD) officers who attended the January 6 event in Washington, D.C.

The case involved public records requests submitted by members of the public seeking information about officers who attended the January 6 event. A subset group of the officers sought to block the release of their identities from Seattle Police Department internal investigation records, arguing that disclosure of their identities would violate what they asserted were statutory and constitutional rights to anonymous political association and would subject them to harassment. The opinion of the Court of Appeals concluded that the officers had a constitutional right to keep their identities private under Washington’s Public Records Act and that public agencies had an obligation to assert a constitutionally based privacy exemption under the Public Records Act on behalf of the officers and any other individuals named in records responsive to a public records request.  

After mixed rulings in lower courts, the case made its way to the Washington Supreme Court, highlighting an important question: do public employees have a right to anonymity when their actions at a public event become the subject of public records?

The Washington Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeals’ decision and, in a comprehensive opinion largely aligned with the arguments made in WSAMA’s brief, clarified that individuals who attend a large, well-publicized gathering do not have a statutory or constitutional privacy right to anonymity, and that local governments do not have an obligation to assert constitutional objections to disclosure on behalf of private individuals.

The Court’s ruling in this case therefore clarifies the obligations of public agencies under the Public Records Act and provides guidance regarding constitutional privacy rights as a potential exemption to public disclosure.

The WSAMA briefing prepared by Foster Garvey in this matter is one example of the firm’s commitment to its municipal clients, its deep knowledge of issues affecting those clients, and its unwavering commitment to pro bono work. Learn more about the team here.