Courts in Washington state have declined to protect the officers’ identities in ongoing litigation.
The U.S. Supreme Court on July 8 declined a second request to shield the identities of police officers fighting a public records request seeking information about their attendance at the Jan. 6, 2021, rally at the U.S. Capitol.
The four unidentified current and former Seattle law enforcement officers said they were investigated and cleared of wrongdoing in connection with their attendance at the rally, which was followed by a security breach at the U.S. Capitol.
The officers argue that even though they have been cleared of any accusations of wrongdoing, Seattle officials have tarnished their reputations. Including the officers’ names in court records would compound the problem by infringing their First Amendment rights and chilling their ability to express political opinions, they say.
The Washington Supreme Court ruled in February that the Seattle officers do not have a right to remain anonymous in public.
Seattle officials have claimed that the rally was “for fascists and white supremacists,” and “have attempted to paint guilt by association, wondering aloud on the purpose for [the officers’] attendance at the rally, obviously insinuating they are tied to right wing extremists,” the officers stated in a prior application that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected on June 4.
Acting alone, on July 8, Justice Elena Kagan denied the newer emergency application brought in the case known as John Does 1, 2, 4, and 5 v. Seattle Police Department. Kagan did not explain why she rejected the application. She chose not to refer the application to the full court.
The application, which was filed on June 25, may be revisited by the U.S. Supreme Court. Under court rules, applicants are allowed to direct an application rejected by a single justice to another justice.
The officers sued the city of Seattle after they learned that public records requests about their attendance at the rally had been initiated.
The officers asked the Court to stay a June 18 order of the King County, Washington, Superior Court that unsealed certain court documents and directed them to refile their lawsuit using their true names. On June 23, the Washington State Court of Appeals decided not to stay the lower court’s order, which means the officers cannot litigate using pseudonyms.
