Confederated Tribes v Johnson :: 135 Wn2d 734
Category: Bureaucracy and Documents
It appears that Mr. Johnson was seeking records showing the “amount of ‘community contribution’ owed by the tribes under the terms of a tribal-state gaming compact.” (According to this case, two percent of all net proceeds from Indian gambling operations are assessed “to defray the costs of the impact of Indian gambling operations on nontribal governmental agencies.” [at 741, 747]). The Superior Court ordered the records be disclosed and the Supreme Court upheld that decision stating that the records are not protected from disclosure under any provision of State or federal law.
Justices Madsen, Alexander and Sanders agreed with the majority but disagreed that they did not award Mr. Johnson attorney fees. Mr. Johnson is, according to our records, an attorney. He used to work for the AG, and if my memory serves correctly, he took a leave of absence from the department to defend Initiative 601 during a Supreme Court challenge (Walker v Munro, 1994). In this case, he was probably working for public interest, which is no authority of itself, however, RCW 42.17.340(4) mandates the award of fees and costs.
Rating the Usual Suspects:
| pass | Alexander, Gerry | |
| pass | Dolliver, James | |
| pass | Durham, Barbara | |
| pass | Gregoire, Christine | |
| pass | Guy, Richard | |
| pass | Johnson, Charles | |
| pass | Johnson, James Martin | |
| pass | Madsen, Barbara | |
| pass | McCoy, Jonathan | |
| pass | Pomeroy, Christine | |
| pass | Sanders, Richard | |
| pass | Smith, Charles | |
| pass | Talmadge, Phil | |
| fail | Chesnin, Harold | |
| fail | Lyon, Kevin | |
| fail | Weber, James B | |
| fail | Whitener, Ronald |