Public employees’ rights to privacy are outweighed by the public’s right to know, the California Supreme Court ruled Aug. 27 in a couple of highly awaited decisions on open-records issues.

The court’s companion rulings held that the Contra Costa Times is entitled to the names and salaries of the city of Oakland’s highest-paid employees, and that the Los Angeles Times should have been granted access to certain “innocuous information” about peace officers around the state.