Animal activist suing U. over researcher names

Utah Primate Freedom Project member Katie Patterson has sued the University of Utah over access to the names of university animal researchers.

Patterson's lawsuit, filed Tuesday, is the most recent step in a months-long battle over the group's right to the names. The lawsuit is an appeal of the Utah Records Committee's July 2 decision to deny the animal-rights group access to the information.

According to court documents, Patterson believes that under state law, the names should be made public. However, the board voted 3-2 to deny access, claiming that researchers' safety could be compromised.

Patterson's group has not inflicted any physical harm to researchers but has been known to hold protests outside their homes. The committee said in July that it wasn't worried about the Utah group but is concerned that the researchers' names could be accessed by other, more violent animal-rights groups.

Patterson and group president Jeremy Beckham originally filed a Government Records Access Management Act request for the records.