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Brian Green v. Pierce County, Washington

Paid petition · Supreme Court of Washington, No. 98768-8 · judgment May 27, 2021

Certiorari denied · March 21, 2022
Pre-decision estimate: 3% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

Brian Green operates “Libertys Champion,” a YouTube channel dedicated to exposing corruption and covering local court cases in Pierce County, Washington. The county denied Green’s request for public records that are restricted to “news media” under Wash. Rev. Code §§ 5.68.010(5) and 42.56.250(8), reasoning that Green is a citizen-journalist, not a corporate media entity. The Superior Court ordered the county to give Green the records. The Washington Supreme Court reversed. Turning aside Green’s First Amendment arguments, it held that certain public records could only be provided to members of the “news media” who have corporate personhood. The question presented is: Whether barring individual citizen-journalists from accessing public records otherwise made available to news media, for lack of corporate personhood, violates the First Amendment freedoms of speech and press.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Alan Gura
Institute for Free Speech

For respondent
Daniel R. Hamilton
Pierce Co. Attorney's Office

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Proceedings

  1. Mar 21 2022
    Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Liberty Justice Center GRANTED.
  2. Mar 21 2022
    Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Cato Institute GRANTED.
  3. Mar 21 2022
    Petition DENIED.
  4. Mar 02 2022
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/18/2022.
  5. Feb 25 2022
    Reply of petitioner Brian Green filed.
    Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service
  6. Feb 14 2022
    Brief of respondent Pierce County, Washington in opposition filed.
    Main DocumentOtherCertificate of Word CountProof of Service
  7. Jan 05 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including February 14, 2022.
  8. Jan 04 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from January 14, 2022 to February 14, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
    Main DocumentProof of Service
  9. Dec 15 2021
    Response Requested. (Due January 14, 2022)
  10. Dec 08 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/7/2022.
  11. Nov 23 2021
    Motion for leave to file amici brief filed by the Cato Institute.
    Main DocumentProof of ServiceCertificate of Word Count
  12. Nov 22 2021
    Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Liberty Justice Center.
    Main DocumentProof of ServiceCertificate of Word Count
  13. Oct 22 2021
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 26, 2021)
    PetitionAppendixCertificate of Word CountProof of Service