Federal court to decide Delaware public records case
May 14th, 2006 | Author: Tamara Thompson
The Third Circuit Court is hearing a case that will determine whether a portion of Delaware’s public records act is constitutional. Delaware is one of only 10 states, according to a New York Times article, that bars nonresidents from obtaining state public records.
Federal District Court Judge Farnam had previously ruled in favor of the plaintiff, Matthew Lee, a New York resident who had sought Delaware records from that state’s Attorney General.
Judge Farnan said that the Delaware law abridged Mr. Lee’s right to “engage in the political process” and violated the constitutional guarantee that each state’s citizens are entitled to the same privileges and immunities as those of other states.
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The Third Circuit upheld the lower court’s ruling.
[...] Once again, Delaware must release public records to non residents By Tamara Thompson The Third Circuit Court of Appeals echoed an earlier ruling by a U.S. District Court that Delaware cannot bar citizens of other states from obtaining documents under that state’s public records law. The question presented in this appeal is whether Delaware’s Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 29 Del. Code Ann. § 10003, violates the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the United States Constitution by restricting noncitizens’ rights to access, inspect, and copy public documents. We conclude that it does. [...]