Judge Rules OHSU Violated Open Records Law, Illegally Surveilled PETA

In a win for PETA, free speech, and transparency, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) was found to have caused “undue delay” and unreasonably withheld videos and photos requested by PETA—including by taking steps to delete videos of deadly experiments in which prairie voles were given the equivalent of 15 bottles of wine a day—under Oregon’s public records law, according to a ruling late yesterday by Judge Andrew M. Lavin in the Multnomah County Circuit Court. Lavin also found that OHSU police illegally surveilled PETA by subscribing to regular reports on PETA’s protected First Amendment activity. As a sanction, OHSU will have to pay for costs and fees incurred by PETA.