Inmates Can Have Public Records ... Not

The state Supreme Court ruled yesterday in Livingston v. Cedeno that jailers comply with the Public Records Act when they mail records to an inmate's prison mail box ... and then confiscate the records as "contraband." So you can have the records ... not. This Seattle Times story describes the case. Here is the majority decision and Justice Jim Johnson's dissent.

This ruling--that inmates can use the Public Records Act but that prison contraband rules then kick in--directly conflicts with the Attorney General's brief last month in another case that an inmate is not a "person" and therefore cannot use the Public Records Act.