A battle over access to public records returned to court Thursday, with the ACLU and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department fighting over whether police are putting public records behind costly paywalls something I've called "the green wall of silence."
Police accountability often depends on body camera video and public records. But what Metro releases, and what it charges to release it, is at the center of an ACLU lawsuit I first reported on this summer. The fight could end up before the Nevada Supreme Court.
WATCH | ACLU, Metro police battle in court over costly public records paywalls ACLU, Metro police battle in court over costly public records paywalls"It seems that when Metro wants to release records to the public that make them look good, they'll do that and it'll be free to the public. And when it's about government transparency and accountability, they'll come up with some insane amount of money to charge the requester," said Nevada ACLU Executive Director Athar Haseebullah.
In court Thursday, the ACLU argued Metro charges inconsistent rates, relies on estimates, and illegally requires deposits before processing public records requests.
Metro wanted $7,000 from the ACLU for body camera footage from the June 2025 ICE protest. It charged us $21,000 for footage tied to an alleged illegal bio lab investigation. Neither request was fulfilled because neither bill was affordable. Metro argues that state law doesn't specifically prohibit those fees.
"The beauty of having video footage is you don't have to take my word for it, you don't have to take Metro's word for it, you don't have to take anybody else's word for it. You can look at it yourself," Haseebullah said.
That's the purpose of Nevada's Public Records Act. But if the public can't afford the footage, it may never be seen.
"When you put up paywalls or 'green walls,' as you've cited to in the past, it makes it difficult for us to have transparency there and that's not what the law was ever intended to do. It was not meant to create another vehicle for any government agency to go make money off the public," Haseebullah said.
Metro did not respond to our request for comment. The ACLU says government agencies cannot be allowed to price the public out of access to public records.
The judge has reserved ruling and says he'll issue a written decision. No timeline was given.
