Nick McCann reports on a case that made me blink:
A group of Washington strippers and club managers do not have to disclose their personal information requested by a man who wants to pray for them, a federal judge ruled.
Tacoma resident David Van Vleet filed a Public Records Act request with the Pierce County auditor as a private citizen, seeking the personal information of dancers at DreamGirls at Fox’s, a strip club in Parkland, Washington.
Van Vleet told local reporters that he requested the information because he wanted to pray for them.
“I’m a Christian,” Van Vleet said. “We have a right to pray for people.”
Now you might guess that Van Vleet went to court because his public records request was denied and that our right to privacy would trump his self-proclaimed right to pray for us. But you’d be wrong, my privacy-conscious friends and readers:
Auditor Julie Anderson said she would disclose the information to Van Vleet unless the dancers got a court injunction.
The DreamGirls employees sued to bar Anderson from disclosing their personal information to Van Vleet or any other members of the public, including names, birth dates and photos.
Read more on Courthouse News. Ironically, perhaps, Van Vleet refused to provide his own contact details to the court.
Update: Eugene Volokh also discussed this case, here.