Supreme Court withdraws Yousoufian ruling
The Washington Supreme Court has withdrawn its landmark public records ruling in Yousoufian v. Office of Ron Sims, after King County's motion that Justice Richard Sanders, who wrote the majority opinion, stood to benefit from the ruling. (Court order here and Seattle Times story here.)
The court says it will schedule arguments “in due course.”
The Yousoufian ruling provided guidelines for assessing the severity of penalties when a public agency violates the state's Public Records Act.
After the ruling issued, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that Justice Sanders had his own separate, long-running public records case. Justice Sanders says he cleared his involvement in Yousoufian with the court's ethics expert, and that recusal was not required in this situation. King County lawyers asked the Supreme Court to vacate the Yousoufian ruling and provide for new argument.
In April we wrote about the outcome of a possible rehearing:
What would happen if the court grants King County’s motion for a rehearing?
Hard to say. Sanders wrote the majority, which was signed by Justices Charles Johnson, James Johnson, and Fairhurst. Justice Chambers concurred with the majority’s analytical guidelines, but disagreed over whether the trial court judges abused their discretion as related to the penalty awarded Mr. Yousoufian. In addition to signing the majority, Justice James Johnson filed a concurrence, which Justice Sanders signed. Chief Justice Alexander separately concurred with the analytical guidelines, but dissented to the extent that Sanders ordered the trial court to impose penalty “at the high end of the penalty range.” Finally, Justices Owens and Madsen dissented, along with Justice Pro Tem Karen Seinfeld, protesting the “cumbersome multifactor test.” Justice Stephens did not participate.
Given the kaleidoscope of opinions, it’s difficult to predict an outcome if the Supreme Court granted a rehearing. Replacing Sanders, and assuming all other members ruled similarly, there are still five votes to uphold Yousoufian's analytical framework. And as I've noted elsewhere, Justice Stephens, who did not participate, seems to line up on the side of open government.
