State ex rel. Myers v. Meyers

This precedent-setting mandamus case was a major victory for press freedom and public access to government records.  Emmett represented Scioto Valley Guardian editor-in-chief Derek Meyers, who asked the Ohio Supreme Court to compel the City of Chillicothe, Ohio and its police chief, Ron Meyers, to turn over copies of police incident reports that the City had withheld.  Emmett argued that the City was required to turn over the withheld reports under Ohio’s Public Records Act.  The City had provided Mr. Myers with partial reports but had concealed the substance of the reports—the portions that mattered most to the public and media—in a separate section the City called a “supplement narrative,” arguing that this separation meant that the “investigatory work-product” exception to the Public Record’s Act shielded the information from release.  The Ohio Supreme Court, in a 5-2 vote, disagreed, and, by a 4-3 vote, clarified 30-year-old precedent, holding that “officers’ reports that contain their observations at the time that they are responding to an incident, along with initial witness statements taken at the time of the incident or immediately thereafter, are . . . public records and may not be withheld from disclosure.”  The Court ordered the City to pay damages and court costs to Emmett’s client.