# Soter v. Cowles Publishing Co.

> Washington Supreme Court · December 27, 2007 · 162 Wash. 2d 716

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4713838

## Case

- **Full name:** Cody Soter, Spokane School District No. 81 v. Cowles Publishing Company
- **Court:** Washington Supreme Court
- **Decided:** December 27, 2007
- **Citations:** 162 Wash. 2d 716
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Madsen
- **Judges:** Bridge, Johnson, Madsen
- **Cited by:** 119 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4713838

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- discussing this exemption which incorporates the work product rule and the attorney-client privilege, and this court’s finding the disputed records exempt from disclosure

## Opinion text

¶69
Madsen, J.
(concurring) — The dissent addresses strong policy arguments in favor of public disclosure, but I join the majority because it is correct on the law that the legislature has enacted. Whether a lawsuit has actually been commenced does not define when a controversy exists, Dawson v. Daly, 120 Wn.2d 782 , 845 P.2d 995 (1993), and whether a controversy has been resolved does not define the boundaries of records that “would not be available to another party under the rules of pretrial discovery for causes pending in the superior courts.” RCW 42.56.290.
¶70 However strong the policies favoring disclosure, every exemption included in the public disclosure act, chapter 42.56 RCW, results from a deliberate weighing of competing interests by the legislature, and it is the legislature’s province to amend a statute, not this court’s.
Fairhurst, J., concurs with Madsen, J.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4713838. Public record. Not legal advice.