From Sullivan v. Univ. of Washington, decided today by the Ninth Circuit (Judge Sandra Ikuta, joined by Judge Daniel Collins and District Judge Sidney Fitzwater [N.D. Tex.]):
Appointees to a university committee created to satisfy federal legal requirements [related to animal welfare in research] sought to enjoin the university from releasing the letters appointing them to the official committee. {People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an organization opposed to the use of animals in research, [had] filed a public records request with the University pursuant to Washington's Public Records Act (PRA).} The appointees claimed that the disclosure of such letters, which contain their personal identifying information {such as names, email addresses, office addresses, and work affiliations}, would violate their First Amendment right of expressive association.
The district court held that there was a serious question on the merits of that argument and preliminarily enjoined the disclosure. We disagree. The committee members' performance of their official duties is not protected by the First Amendment right of expressive association, and so the disclosure of public records that relate to performance of such duties does not impinge on that right….
