Transparency News 4/18/14

Read the opinion on VCOG’s website
Unpublished research by university scientists is exempt from the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled Thursday, rejecting an attempt by skeptics of global warming to view the work of a prominent climate researcher during his years at the University of Virginia. The ruling is the latest turn in the FOIA request filed in 2011 by Del. Robert Marshall (R-Prince William) and the American Tradition Institute to obtain research and e-mails of former U-Va. profesor Michael Mann.
Washington Post
The 22-page ruling written by Justice Donald W. Lemons, ruled that that definition of “proprietary” used by the institute was too narrow. Lemons wrote that, “Competitive disadvantage implicates not only financial injury, but also harm to university-wide research efforts, damage to faculty recruitment and retention, undermining of faculty expectation of privacy and confidentiality, and impairment of free thought and expression.” The justices said they did not believe the General Assembly intended the Freedom of Information Act to put the state’s public universities at a disadvantage to private institutions.
Times-Dispatch coverage
The ruling ended a three-year court battle that gained national headlines when then-state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli joined the American Tradition Institute in demanding Mann’s emails. The justices said retired Arlington Circuit Judge Paul Sheridan was right when he ruled the emails are proprietary records dealing with scholarly research and therefore exempt from disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Researches hailed the decision, but some open government advocates said they feared it could be used to keep public records out of the hands of the public. “I would encourage people to read the ruling without thinking about their opinion about global warming,” said Megan Rhyne, director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government.
Daily Progress
The state supreme court also agreed with the lower court that state agencies may charge VFOIA requesters for the time it takes to do a review of requested documents to see if any exemptions apply. The court said such redaction review was covered in the statute because the law allows agencies to charge for the cost of "searching." Both ATI and the Reporters Committee had argued that the state, not the requester, should bear the cost of reviewing documents for possible exemptions.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Gov. Bob McDonnell’s legal defense fund on Thursday made a new appeal for donations, saying his trial alone will cost an estimated $1 million for legal fees, housing, experts, transcripts and other costs. “We need to insure that the legal team has the resources to prepare and defend Bob at trial,” the Restoration Fund said in a news release, adding that such expenses “can be ruinous.”
Times-Dispatch

A federal judge ruled today that former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife can keep some potential testimony secret from the public – for now – as they push to split their joint corruption trial into separate proceedings. McDonnell and his legal team will have to let federal prosecutors see these filings, though. Otherwise prosecutors won't be able to respond to the legal arguments the McDonnells are making in the case, U.S. District Court Judge James R. Spencer ruled.
Daily Press

In 13 years of presiding over cases that come through Lynchburg General District Court, Judge Ed Burnette has always felt safe behind the bench. He considers the monitor next to his chair a major reason why. The screen allows Burnette to have a regular feed into jail cells across Central Virginia to advise inmates during pre-trial proceedings of their rights for attorney representation or regarding bail. The technology resource Burnette has used for the past eight years has permitted him to advise countless suspects without them having to step foot inside a courtroom during pre-trial phases of a case, a practice he touts as effective in helping ensure courthouse security.
News & Advance

National Stories

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has joined other media organizations in a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Google’s effort to reverse a Ninth Circuit decision involving the take-down of a video on You Tube. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ordered Google to remove the video from You Tube after an actress in the video claimed she was tricked into appearing in an anti-Islamic video and that her copyright was infringed. The video reportedly flamed the actions behind the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, and the actress maintains that she has been threatened since it appeared online. Google has argued that the ruling, authored by Judge Alex Kozinski, violates the First Amendment and is asking for the full appeals court to consider its argument.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

For its most provocative investigative target, an anticorruption commission appointed last year by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo set out to scrutinize the millions of dollars earned by New York legislators who also have other jobs. Legislative leaders were so furious that they went to court to try to stop the panel’s inquiry, quoting from the Federalist Papers and arguing that the governor had embarked upon a witch hunt that trampled upon a separate branch of government. Mr. Cuomo pressed on: In January he proposed strict new rules requiring lawmakers to disclose their firm’s clients that have business before the state. But his proposal did not survive negotiations with legislative leaders. And with Mr. Cuomo’s much-questioned decision last month to disband the anticorruption commission,the inquiry into lawmakers’ outside employment is coming to an abrupt halt.
Governing

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has failed to protect its data network against possible breaches, to encrypt highly sensitive information, or to use strong enough passwords, the Government Accountability Office said. In addition to the cybersecurity failings, even the physical security in place to protect SEC data and equipment from being accessed or stolen is lax, a 25-page GAO report said, with workstations located in an area open to all agency staff.
Reuters
 

Editorials/Columns

The Daily Press Editorial Board gives the Open Door Award each month to a public official or organization in recognition of dedication to transparency and public access. This month's goes toVirginia's Freedom of Information Advisory Council and the Virginia Press Association, for making a major commitment to the first study of Virginia's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 14 years. FOIA is the law that ensures citizens have access to public records, including the documents our officials use to make and record the decisions that affect almost every aspect of our lives. It is the law that says we have a right to listen when our elected officials debate how they'll tax us, how they'll spent our taxes and what rules they would set for us.
Daily Press

Richmond City Hall’s perception of what constitutes the media apparently has changed little since I covered city politics. Reporters are not provided with credentials that would give them sole access to the media area. How are city officials to know who belongs or doesn’t? In an era in which bloggers with cameras and laptops can claim turf in the Fourth Estate, what criteria exist to weed out watchdogs from hot dogs? The city is on shaky grounds in removing Dorsey from the meeting. But the encounter shows how the presence of a gun can escalate matters.
Michael Paul Williams, Times-Dispatch

There was a day when drafting a letter on paper, with a pen, was the modus operandi of communication. Today, it’s more or less a rarity, except for the occasional wedding invitation or “thank you” note. Digital communication via email, social media messaging or posting, and yes, texting, has more or less become the way most people communicate, in writing anyway (we won’t broach “Skyping” or “Face-timing” in this editorial). With this in mind, we applaud a recent push from Glenn Millican Jr., the Mechanicsville District’s school board representative, to begin using new technology as a way to better communicate with constituents and the public, at large.
Herald-Progress