Nast v. Michels

(dissenting)—By holding that the public disclosure act (PDA) does not apply to superior court case files, the majority rejects the clear language of the act and ignores prior case law of this court. Thus, I dissent.

As a starting point, the PDA itself establishes that the act is to be construed liberally, especially given the strength of its language. Some of this court's earlier statements in this regard bear repeating:

The Washington public disclosure act is a strongly worded mandate for broad disclosure of public records. It states that, "mindful of the right of individuals to privacy and of…