Opinion ID: 1195222
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Majority's Holding Contravenes the Plain Language of the Statute.

Text: The PDA requires public agencies to make available for public inspection and copying all public records unless the record falls within a specific exemption. RCW 42.17.260(1). The public agency has the burden of proving that the information sought falls within one of the Act's exemptions. Amren v. City of Kalama, 131 Wash.2d 25, 32, 929 P.2d 389 (1997) (citations omitted). Pertinent to the instant case, an exemption is provided for certain records compiled by law enforcement agencies. RCW 42.17.310(1)(d). Exemptions are, however, to be narrowly construed. That is made manifest by RCW 42.17.251, which provides: The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies that serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may maintain control over the instruments that they have created. The public records subdivision of this chapter shall be liberally construed and its exemptions narrowly construed to promote this public policy. (Emphasis added). It is the majority's failure to narrowly construe the so-called law enforcement exemption that is a primary flaw in its decision to shield all of the records within the Pratt murder file from judicial examination and potential disclosure. A plain reading of the language of the exemption makes clear that it applies only in the narrow circumstance where the nondisclosure of [ s ] pecific intelligence information and specific investigative records ... is essential to effective law enforcement or for the protection of any person's right to privacy. RCW 42.17.310(1)(d) (emphasis added). The PDA, in short, dictates that the decision regarding disclosure or nondisclosure of records or information is to turn on whether nondisclosure is either essential to effective law enforcement or to protect privacy rights, not on whether the records are contained in an open file. Unfortunately, the majority's holding that all records within an open investigative file are exempt turns the PDA on its head by allowing an exemption, which is to be narrowly construed, to entirely swallow the provisions of this act which favors disclosure of public records. Under its holding, a law enforcement agency need only allege that a file is open in order to shield its entire contents from in camera review by the courts and prevent its disclosure to the public. The agency need not, the majority concludes, make any individualized showing that the records within the file are essential to effective law enforcement in order to justify its nondisclosure. Unfortunately, excusing law enforcement agencies from having to make such a showing upon a mere declaration that a file is open provides an incentive to such agencies to keep investigative files open merely to frustrate a citizen's request for disclosure or to avoid the administrative burden that may accompany disclosure. Hearst Corp. v. Hoppe, 90 Wash.2d 123, 131-32, 580 P.2d 246 (1978) (Costs and disruption to the agency are of insignificant impact compared to the stated public purpose of the Act.) (citing RCW 42.17.320(2)); see also Amren, 131 Wash.2d at 32, 929 P.2d 389. Furthermore, because there is no statutory limitation on the crime of murder, all unsolved murders are theoretically open investigations. Therefore, under the majority's holding, an entire class of files are categorically exempt from disclosure. This broad holding is incongruent with the intent of the people and the Legislature, [1] and is unsupported by the clear language of the law enforcement exemption. Because the majority concludes that an entire file is exempt from disclosure, it is apparent that the majority equates a file to a record. This is wrong for at least two reasons. First, it is significant that the PDA, as it was originally enacted, provided for the nondisclosure of specific investigative files. Laws of 1973, ch. 1, § 31(d), at 23. However, the Legislature specifically amended that section to provide that only specific records are exempt from disclosure. Laws of 1975, ch. 294, § 17(d), at 1313. It is apparent that by the 1975 amendment the Legislature was making a clear distinction between records and files and was expressing its intent that only records, not files, are exempt from disclosure. Cf. Koker v. Armstrong Cork, Inc., 60 Wash.App. 466, 470-71, 804 P.2d 659, review denied, 117 Wash.2d 1006, 815 P.2d 265 (1991). Regretfully, by ignoring the Legislature's intent in amending the exemption, this court disregards the well-recognized rule of statutory construction that where a law is amended and a material change is made in the wording, it is presumed that the legislature intended a change in the law. Home Indem. Co. v. McClellan Motors, Inc., 77 Wash.2d 1, 3, 459 P.2d 389 (1969) (citing Alexander v. Highfill, 18 Wash.2d 733, 140 P.2d 277 (1943)). Second, the majority's substitution of the word file for records finds no support in the PDA's definition of public record, which is any writing containing information relating to the conduct of government or the performance of any governmental or proprietary function prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics. RCW 42.17.020(36). Because that definition does not encompass an entire file and the PDA does not define file, resort to a dictionary to give meaning to that term is appropriate. Dawson v. Daly, 120 Wash.2d 782, 791, 845 P.2d 995 (1993). BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY defines file as, in general, `file,' or `the files,' is used loosely to denote the official custody ... or the place in the offices... where the records and papers are kept. BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY 628 (6th ed.1990). Since records are kept in files, and the PDA allows only for the exemption of specific records, it follows logically that an entire file is not categorically exempt from disclosure.