U.S. Supreme Court: States can withhold documents from nonresidents

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision announced Monday, stated that there is no constitutional right for people to obtain public records from states they don't live in

.According to the Reporters' Commitee for Freedom of the Press, the high court upheld a provision in Virginia's Freedom of Information Act that states non-residents cannot file records requests.

"This Court has repeatedly made clear that there is no constitutional right to obtain all the information provided by FOIA laws," Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court.

The suit was brought by Mark J. McBurney and Roger W. Hurlbert. McBurney, a former Virginia resident who moved to Rhode Island, attempted to obtain information on child-support payments from his ex-wife. Hurlbert, a California businessman, was seeking property-tax records for his business.

The pair are planning to lobby Virginia to repeal the residents-only clause in its records act.

The Society of Professional Journalists and other open-government groups filed friend-of-the-court briefs supporting the pair's lawsuit.