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Washington Supreme Court weighs unsealing disclosure document in Doe pseudonymity dispute
Summary
The court heard arguments over whether a trial court properly sealed a disclosure document that preserves plaintiffs' pseudonymity in a case involving records about level 1 *** offenders. Counsel debated abuse-of-discretion review, redaction alternatives and whether a sealed disclosure list should be required.
The Washington State Supreme Court on Feb. 25 heard argument over whether a lower court properly sealed a disclosure document that keeps the plaintiffs identified only by pseudonyms in a decade-old suit seeking release of records about level 1 *** offenders.
LaRonde Baker, an attorney with the ACLU of Washington, told the court that Division I of the Court of Appeals erred by failing to apply the abuse-of-discretion standard to the trial court's decision to seal the disclosure document, and that unsealing would defeat the plaintiffs' ability to proceed pseudonymously. "Pseudonymity can't be maintained if this disclosure document that has the identities of the Does is actually released and unsealed," Baker argued, saying the trial court held full Ishikawa hearings and found factual support for sealing.
The dispute…
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