State Ex Rel. Morke v. Record Custodian

Jean Gilpin, the record custodian of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services, appeals from an order compelling her to turn over certain prison records to Thomas Morke, a recently-released prison inmate. The issue is whether Gilpin properly weighed the harm that would flow from providing the records to Morke against the strong presumption in favor of public access to state records. We conclude that she did, and we reverse the order.

*724While still incarcerated, Morke requested from the institution's record custodian the names, home addresses, and published home telephone numbers of…