Today's argument - Sanders v. State - March 31, 2010
At 9:00 a.m. this morning the Court will hear one argument on a Public Records Act case. Because it involves a sitting justice, the entire Court may be replaced by pro tem justices (judges drawn from a lower court to review just this case). (Docket, briefs) After today the Court will recess from arguments until May.
Richard Sanders v. State, No. 82849-1. Justice Sanders is asking the Court to find that the 
Attorney General's Office violated the Public Records Act by withholding hundreds of requested records under various exemptions claimed without explanation; and to determine whether the penalties and costs awarded to Sanders by the trial court were sufficient.
In 2004, Sanders sent a request to the Attorney General's Office for all documents related to his visit to the McNeil Island Special Corrections Center and the actions taken by the Commission on Judicial Conduct in response to his visit (which led to a different Sanders v. State). Over a hundred responsive documents were withheld or redacted, primarily under the "related to a current case or controversy" exemption to the PRA (RCW 42.56.290), with no explanation of why the documents fell under that exemption.
The trial court found that the AGO had violated the PRA by not providing the required "brief explanation" for how exemptions apply, and that some of the withheld records should have been disclosed. Sanders asked for a $70 per day penalty, the trial court fined the AGO $5 per day for withholding records and $3 per day for not explaining the exemptions; and awarded Sanders 37.5% of his attorney fees. He appeals both the ruling that some of the documents were exempt, and the amounts of the penalties and fees.
This is the case that led to the claim that Sanders was self-serving in his Yousoufian v. Sims majority opinion. Due to that controversy, the appellate court determined it didn't have the authority to review, and kicked the case up to the Supreme Court.
