Washington

Note: This page covers information specific to Washington. For general information concerning access to and use of court proceedings see the Access to Courts and Court Records section of this guide.

You have a right to attend most court proceedings in Washington state courts. However, your right of access is not absolute, and a court can restrict your access under certain circumstances. If you are interested in attending a court proceeding, visit the Washington judiciary's website to find the locations, phone numbers, and websites for the state's courts. This pages focuses on your ability to access certain types of proceedings.

Criminal Proceedings

Trial Proceedings

You have a First Amendment right to attend criminal trials, Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 555, 580(1980). This includes the preliminary hearing and the jury selection process. The Washington state constitution also provides a right of access to court proceedings. Wash. Const. art. I, § 10.   read more »

Note: This page covers information specific to Washington. For general information concerning access to government meetings see the Access to Government Meetings section of this guide.

Washington's Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) provides the public with a right of access to the meetings of a large number of government bodies at the state and local level in Washington. Washington law also gives you the ability to inspect and copy meeting minutes and imposes notice requirements on government agencies. You should consult the Washington Attorney General's Open Government Internet Manual: Chapter 3 and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press's Open Government Guide: Washington for additional information on the OPMA. For detailed information about how the OPMA applies at the local level, see the Municipal Research and Services Center's The Open Public Meetings Act: How it Applies to Washington Cities and Counties.

What Meetings are Covered?

What Government Bodies Are Covered?   read more »

Note: This page covers information specific to Washington. For general information concerning access to government records see the Access to Government Records section of this guide.

You have a statutory right to inspect a vast number of Washington’s public records using the state's Public Records Act. See chapter 42, section 56 of the Revised Code of Washington, (Wash. Rev. Code). You are not required to tell the agency your purpose for requesting the reocrds, and the agency cannot "distinguish among persons requesting records." Wash. Rev. Code § 42.56.080.

What Records Are Covered in Washington

What Government Bodies Are Covered   read more »

Note: This page covers information specific to Washington. See the section on Protecting Sources and Source Material for more general information.

Washington state has a shield law that protects the identity of confidential sources and other materials collected or prepared in the newsgathering process, such as notes and outtakes. The state legislature adopted the shield law in 2007, and no courts have applied it yet, so so many of its provisions are open to interpretation. However, some preliminary guidance is possible. First, the law protects anyone who runs or works in a news-related capacity for an "entity" (more below) that regularly provides news to the public, including through any kind of online media. Second, the shield's protection is qualified, meaning that a court may order you to disclose protected information if the information is unavailable elsewhere and there is a compelling public interest in disclosure.

Before the state legislature adopted the new shield law, Washington state courts recognized a common law (i.e., judge-made) privilege for reporters. Typically, when a legislature passes a specific law on a topic, such as a privilege for reporters, courts often say that the new statute takes the place of the common law on that topic and strips it of its force as law. While no court in Washington has said so, it seems unlikely that Washington courts will continue to recognize a common law privilege now that a shield law is in place. For more information on Washington's common law privilege, see the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press's Privilege Compendium: Washington.   read more »

Note: This page covers information specific to Washington. For general information concerning the use of recording devices see the Recording Phone Calls, Conversations, Meetings and Hearings section of this guide.

Washington Wiretapping Law

Washington's wiretapping law is a "two-party consent" law. Washington makes it a crime to intercept or record a private telephone call, in-person conversation, or electronic communication unless all parties to the communication consent. See Wash. Rev. Code § 9.73.030(1). Whether a conversation or other communications is "private" depends on a number of case-specific factors, such as the subjective intention of the parties, the reasonableness of their expectation that the conversation would be private, the location of the conversation, and whether third parties were present. State v. Townsend, 57 P.3d 255, 259 (Wash. 2002). You should always get the consent of all parties before recording any conversation that common sense tells you is private.   read more »

It is not clear what the statute of limitations is for intrusion in Washington because courts in Washington only recently recognized intrusion claims. For defamation and false light invasion of privacy cases, the statute of limitations is 2 years. See RCW 4.16.100(1). At least one source indicates that courts will likely apply this 2 year statute of limitations to intrusion claims as well. See Media Law Resource Center, 50-State Survey 2007-2008: Media Privacy and Related Law (2008). If this is not the case, the statute of limitations is likely the 3 year period applied to other torts. See RCW 4.16.080.

Intrusion law in Washington does not differ signicantly from the law described in the General Elements of an Intrusion Claim section of this guide. See Doe v. Gonzaga University, 143 Wn.2d 687, 705-06 (2001).

As result, you should follow the general advice outlined in the section on Practical Tips for Avoiding Liability When Gathering Private Information.