HARTFORD (AP) — The state Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether police in Connecticut can withhold arrest reports from the public and just issue press releases instead, while prosecutions are pending.

Journalists are calling the case critical for reporters being able to get arrest reports quickly, and for the public’s right to know how their police departments operate. Justices are set to hear the case Thursday.

The case began in 2008, when The New Haven Register requested a state police report on the arrest of a man in a Derby assault case. Police said the report was exempt from disclosure and gave the newspaper a press release instead.

The state Freedom of Information Commission ruled against state police, but a state judge and the state Appellate Court found in state police’s favor.