June 23, 2006

Among the many high-handed, undemocratic premises of the 1998 multistate settlement between state AGs and the tobacco industry is the notion that the deal is somehow just a private matter between the two sides whose evolving details need not be submitted to the general public even for scrutiny, let alone debate. Thus, when there were big news stories earlier this year about how an arbiter had issued a report that could lead to reduced payments to states by the tobacco companies, the AGs took the position that the report was "privileged and confidential" and need not be made available to the public. Now, however, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation and Competitive Enterprise Institute have succeeded in using the open-records law of the state of Washington to successfully demand copies of the arbiter's report and other key documents. Details are here.