CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) — The state of Maryland is paying $60,000 to resolve a lawsuit that established that state prison inmates have the same right to public records as anyone else.

The Cumberland Times-News reports that the state Board of Public Works approved the payment Wednesday to cover the inmate’s attorney fees.

Former inmate Richard Massey Jr. filed the complaint in 2002 after getting no response to his request for state prison agency records regarding inmate health care.

Maryland’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, ruled last May that the state was wrong in insisting that Massey pursue his complaint administratively as an inmate grievance before going to court.

The American Civil Liberties Union says the case set a precedent for freedom-of-information rights in Maryland.
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