Strippers sue to keep personal files away from Tacoma man
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TACOMA, Wash. -- How much is too much information?
A Tacoma man is asking for a pile of personal information on adult dancers throughout Pierce County.
Despite his criminal past, Robert Hill claims he is legally entitled to know what the dancers look like and potentially where they live.
In an exclusive interview inside a holding cell, Hill revealed why he wants this information so badly.
"Anything that combines sex, money and politics --- I'm on it," Hill said.
Hill said he wants to help adult dancers in Pierce County become big stars with social media.
"They can absorb it, they could ignore, they could act on it. Until they hear it, they're not able to benefit from me," he said.
Already in jail for assault at a bar, Hill has been convicted of intimidating a judge and was arrested for stalking in Seattle in 2010.
The case was overturned and a new trial is set to start this summer. In court documents Hill is called "aggressive," "violent" and having displayed "stalking behavior."
But now he wants a full list of adult dancer licensing forms from the county, including identifying details of their bodies, their personal information and photos.
He said it would not only help his social media consulting business, but the dancers and their employers as well.
"They could have per-club pages versus just focusing on the dancer," he said.
Hill has already seen around 100 of the files, but he wants more. He is requesting the documents because they are regulated public records. The dancers are going to court to stop him.
"The very fact that you know somebody has requested this information if terrifying in and of itself," said David Ward, a women's rights attorney.
He said a loss of privacy --- even through public records --- has a chilling effect, and said it could lead to stalking or worse.
"There's no way to know when it's going to happen and there's no way to know when it's stopped," Ward said.
In the meantime, Hill said he'll continue to test the limit of the law. The attorney for the dancer who brought the initial suit had no comment. Hill is representing himself in court.
A Tacoma man is asking for a pile of personal information on adult dancers throughout Pierce County.
Despite his criminal past, Robert Hill claims he is legally entitled to know what the dancers look like and potentially where they live.
In an exclusive interview inside a holding cell, Hill revealed why he wants this information so badly.
"Anything that combines sex, money and politics --- I'm on it," Hill said.
Hill said he wants to help adult dancers in Pierce County become big stars with social media.
"They can absorb it, they could ignore, they could act on it. Until they hear it, they're not able to benefit from me," he said.
Already in jail for assault at a bar, Hill has been convicted of intimidating a judge and was arrested for stalking in Seattle in 2010.
The case was overturned and a new trial is set to start this summer. In court documents Hill is called "aggressive," "violent" and having displayed "stalking behavior."
But now he wants a full list of adult dancer licensing forms from the county, including identifying details of their bodies, their personal information and photos.
He said it would not only help his social media consulting business, but the dancers and their employers as well.
"They could have per-club pages versus just focusing on the dancer," he said.
Hill has already seen around 100 of the files, but he wants more. He is requesting the documents because they are regulated public records. The dancers are going to court to stop him.
"The very fact that you know somebody has requested this information if terrifying in and of itself," said David Ward, a women's rights attorney.
He said a loss of privacy --- even through public records --- has a chilling effect, and said it could lead to stalking or worse.
"There's no way to know when it's going to happen and there's no way to know when it's stopped," Ward said.
In the meantime, Hill said he'll continue to test the limit of the law. The attorney for the dancer who brought the initial suit had no comment. Hill is representing himself in court.
Hey Perv! Stripper info is not a right! D#mas# !
Gee KOMO Since all this information is a matter of public record, how about this creep's address, date of release etc and make that a matter of a public service disclosure.
 @rjchevy why does komo have to do your leg work. That is pure laziness on your part when you can point click and find that information within a couple of minutes.
This is very scary, what a freak!
when can one lose the right to vote or the right to mental competence? once your rights r read is a start.
komo, start printing their full names and current  address and their crime when they are arrested or are in jail. it is public record
 @32jim2 you can get that at your local court house why should komo bother?
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 @32jim2 komo cant keep up with the facts as it is you dont think your asking alot?
Why does this piece of garbage even get face time infront of a camera. The hell with his rights. You don't give a guy like that peoples personal info. What the heck are they thinking. Why is this a front page article. C'mon Komo news, you can do better then that. Keep this dirt bag in jail!
 @LMcK4Him mental hospital not jail, med help , not corrections
 @LMcK4Him you can thanks the courts for the public disclosure law. you can even get gun permit lists, and public employee lists.Â
 @32jim2  @LMcK4Him Actually you can thank the legislature for the public disclosure law. Courts don't pass laws and neither does the governor.
They're SEX WORKERS! Too bad if their information is devulged - it's PUBLIC RECORD, and anyone else can get anyone elses business information from these records, so why can't he. They chose to be SEX WORKERS!
 @Laurie Since when is dancing the same thing as sex worker? please don't answer that, your comment tells me the size of your brain.
 @Wendy Mejia  @Laurie money exchanged for ones sex , anyway shape or form is money exchanged for sex , no matter how one wants to bend it. what? people r that stupid? if you sale your self in that way shape of form where do your rights get capitalized? the usa forbids the sale of sex.
@maggie112 @Wendy Mejia @Laurie Except in parts of Nevada, exchanged for information, to abuse female POW's and when it suits the goverment.
@Laurie But still are humans and deserve better than this.
@ALTemp I agree. And I'm about to post a piece on my blog that talks about why it's so important that the strippers win. The names, addresses, phone numbers, and so on of crime victims are not automatically exempt from public disclosure given how attorneys interpret the state's Public Records Act. If the strippers win, this could lead to much needed conversations about how to better protect everyone who could face victimization or identity theft because of our wacky (and conveniently ambiguous) laws. I'd add that women in this profession are vulnerable as well-- I've heard horrible things about this profession that remind me of the dynamics of human trafficking. THAT would be a good story for KOMO to run.
The state doesn't release the names of residents with Concealed Pistol Licenses. I don't see why the state should have to release the names of those with adult dancer licenses.
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The idea behind public disclosure is for the citizens to know what the government is doing. It wasn't intended to be used so miscreants could find out what citizens are doing.Â
Face it ! Anything is public record for approx. $29.95. Even justice has a buyout option. Look at all the celebs. Who are we fooling ? If you've got the money...you can always buy "innocent" in court. Public records? Do a people search once. For the right price...they'll tell EVERYthing.
I wonder how many of you that thinks giving this bucket of creep this info is a bad idea supported that NY paper listing gun owners?
 @Mike Pittman I don't think either is a good idea. Public disclosure is for keeping tabs on the government, not to help creepy people keep tabs on others.
I wish I knew somebody on the "inside".......I'd gladly donate a carton of smokes for somebody to teach this guy a lesson.
 @ALTemp Having the right of free speech brings personal responsibility for what you say.
Just throwing this one out there for consideration.......he apparently has a lengthy rap sheet. Any felonies? IF he is a convicted felon, doesn't that negate his "rights" to public records access.....especially public records unrelated to him/his own legal cases?
 @chiapetto No
So you give your name and address to a doctor it is HIPAA protected (with quite a large penalty if violated), give it to the government it is public information? Seems a bit of a double standard!Â
Gee, what could possibly go wrong hereâ¦â¦..
Itâs just so sad when common sense leaves the roomâ¦..
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Wonder how things would go if judges and shrinks where held accountable for the decisions they make that end up endangering the public?
What? It will help Hill's  'social media consulting business?' Why is he even allowed to utilize or view social media? If he is in a holding cell, entitled to NO priveleges!  Those privileges SHOULD HAVE been eliminated the moment he assaulted someone in a bar, was convicted of intimidating a judge and stalking others. Â
Shaking my head once again. Â
Would anyone care or miss him if he turned up cold, blue, and lifeless? I don't understand how this could be considered public domain. I understand the state forking over the information on the bridge, and the police releasing videos, a politician forking over all personal financial information, but this? I would look at the possibility that this has legs because political animals want it to cast an unfavorable light on disclosure.Â
 @uscit16791949 That is the sole purpose of stories like this. Create a public outcry and it becomes easier to restrict access to public records, which is the ultimate goal of most of our city, county and state agencies.
Welcome to PUBLIC DISCLOSURE!!!! It will probably take someone getting killed to get this changed....sad but true...
This is just his way of getting potential stalking victims, and a very cleaver and easy way. Â Instead of going out to the clubs he can just look through a bunch of pictures or descriptions of the exact type he wants to stalk. Â This guy is not stupid and that could be the scariest point that I can make. Â
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On the other hand in my opinion, if you are a stripper you should be prepared for your share of attention from psychotic men. Â Asking for privacy when you take your clothes off for a living is a contradiction in terms. Â If I were one of those ladies I might want to place my efforts into getting out of the stripping line of work, rather than trying to fight a loosing battle of warding off the stalkers.
 @keri555 Attention is one thing. Just because a woman takes her clothes off for money, doesn't mean every man that walks in a club has the right to know where she lives or any other personal information. There will be creepers everywhere, but just handing that information over freely is a dangerous game.Â
 @keri555 Guess what, it's none of your stinking business what those ladies do for a living. They have a right to privacy and a right to be left alone when they go home after work. They were born with it, like the rest of us.
The state and no consistency in their rules. If someone hits and runs you car and you get the plate number, they will not give you the drivers name or information, its personal. But then you can get birth records, marriage licenses, most all court records, details on foreclosures and home purchases, evictions and more.
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Most of the time is bottom feeder businesses who use this information for targeted advertising. Get married, get a divorce, get a foreclosure notice and you start getting calls and letters.
 @SkaBob "If someone hits and runs you car and you get the plate number, they will not give you the drivers name or information, its personal.  But then you can get birth records, marriage licenses, most all court records, details on foreclosures and home purchases, evictions and more."
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Actually it's worse than that.  You can be the party who gave the information to the police to begin with and if you misplace your copy of the information then ask or request the information via public disclosure, they won't give it you or they'll redact the information so that you can't read it.  I can think of 3 separate instances right off of the top of my head  in which this has happened to me personally.
I requested all these records, too, now. I wonder what kind of pictures they took for the license.Â
@Vin King The same as the girl down the street who's hours got cut, the same as your friends sister that was abused and never made it past high school, the same as your cousin with no job and 2 kids with a long gone dead beat husband............
 @Vin King nothing suggestive. standard DL or passport style photo
 @BuddyHolly  @Vin King any tats and scars etc to help arrest them for prostitution and body identification from their customers or pimps  murdering them.
What I don't get is why personal information is considered public record.
@what? Yeah, public records law was originally supposed to be about keeping tabs on the conduct of government, not the conduct of the individual. I've been yelling about this stuff for a decade after much time in police records...
 @what? Take it a step further and ask why does the government need this information.  I try to ask myself every time I'm asked for my information from the government or the private sector.
@what? Meant to satisfy the prudishness of others under the guise of "public safety", now used as a tool by exploitative people to further persecute those who society frowns upon. It's not like they're people, after all, according to some, and knowing full well that their very lives could be in peril because they complied with the legal requirements of their profession will work in favor of such prudishness, by discouraging those who would otherwise comply from obtaining licenses.
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The fun part will be watching how the state responds to this particular situation.
I would have laughed at him, slammed his cell door then I would have told him to STFU!!!!
That is why it's called the "Criminal Justice" system folks. The criminals get all the justice, good luck to the rest of ya!
OMG, grease, slime, stink, stank, stunk!!!
If a prisoner is removed from the public, to protect the public, then they probably should not have full access to public records.
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Oh crap, didn't mean to use logic...
The law is probably on his side. Public records are public records.Â
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