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| Prison newspaper wins case on names |
| By Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
| Published: 07/15/2005 |
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The state of Washington can't keep secret the names of prison medical workers who have botched the treatment of inmates or hide the identity of people who witnessed the misconduct, the state Supreme Court ruled yesterday. The decision was a long-awaited win for activist and former prisoner Paul Wright, editor of Seattle-based Prison Legal News. He has tried for more than five years to get the state Department of Corrections to give him the information. He said documents he got from the state in 2000 -- with names and other details blacked out -- show that 14 prison medical staff members were disciplined for their treatment of two inmates who died and eight who suffered serious injuries, including two prisoners who overdosed and one whose wound was closed with Krazy Glue. "It's good that we won. The bad news is that the DOC has kept this under wraps for five years, " said Wright, who now lives in Vermont. "It's an excellent ruling for both press freedom and government accountability." The Department of Corrections argued that revealing the names of disciplined staff and the people who'd reported them "jeopardizes the safety and security of the institutions, as well as the inmates," said state Assistant Attorney General Michael Sellars. He said simply that yesterday's ruling "clarifies the issues for the department." The case centered on the state's Public Disclosure Act, which Wright used while he was still behind bars to seek copies of various documents related to prison health workers who'd been found to have committed misconduct. He wanted to write an article about the issue for his newspaper. Yesterday, the court's 6-3 majority, led by Justice Richard Sanders, said the state -- which gave Wright 1,200 pages of documents -- should not have blacked out the names of the disciplined medical staff members and witnesses. The court rejected the state's argument that revealing the names would cause reprisals, finding it unlikely that an inmate who reported shoddy treatment would be at risk from fellow inmates, or that it would prompt staff members to retaliate. Justices also said the state shouldn't have withheld information about inmates' treatment and medical conditions simply by deeming it private health care information; the state now needs to prove such information would easily identify the patient in order to withhold it. The state will have to pay a penalty to Prison Legal News, from $5 to $100 for each day it withheld documents. |
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