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National Stories
Washington joins a small number of states, including Texas, Maine and Florida, that require elected officials to be trained in open government laws. The aim is to improve disclosure and curtail public records lawsuits, which often result in taxpayers footing the bill. “Training is essential. The more education we can have on the government side, the better,” said David Cuillier, director of the University of Arizona School of Journalism and chairman of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Freedom of Information Committee. Open government advocates say that training, such as learning how to comply with public records requests and what the penalties are for failing to do so, is critical because it strengthens citizens’ access to information and improves government accountability.
The Pew Charitable Trusts
Allegations against top officials at the State Department were devastating and had to be suppressed,so the agency’s inspector general quickly obliged, delivering what amounted to a cover-up of a cover-up. What happened at the State Department is not unusual, recent disclosures show. Inspectors general are supposed to be the independent watchdogs within federal departments and agencies, exposing waste and corruption while protecting the whistleblowers who raise charges of wrongdoing and inefficiency. In the past two years, IGs at a half-dozen Cabinet-level agencies have been accused of retaliating against whistleblowers or softening their findings to protect top department executives or the White House. Damning information about high-level misconduct has been scrubbed from recent IG reports at the Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, Interior and a slew of independent agencies, according to congressional reports and outside watchdog groups.
Washington Examiner
As the Supreme Court on Monday tried to puzzle out what threats may be prosecuted as crimes,Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. cited an unlikely source: the rapper Eminem. Treading gingerly, the chief justice quoted vivid lyrics from “ ’97 Bonnie and Clyde,” in which Eminem seems to threaten to drown his wife. “Could that be prosecuted?” Chief Justice Roberts asked Michael R. Dreeben, a government lawyer. Mr. Dreeben said no and started to say something about context. Chief Justice Roberts interrupted. “Because Eminem said it instead of somebody else?” he asked. The case before the justices also involved threatening rap lyrics arising from domestic troubles. Monday’s argument was mostly about calibrating and articulating the right level of intent, and it seemed that many of the justices were looking for something between mere negligence and purposeful conduct. The court could ground such a ruling in the First Amendment or in interpreting the federal law on threats, though the latter seemed more likely.
New York Times
A monthly prison journal has filed a lawsuit challenging an Indiana prison's decision to deny inmate subscribers access to the publication, which focuses on prisoners' rights and analysis of prisons, jails and other detention facilities. Prison Legal News has sent at least 90 issues of the journal to subscribers at the New Castle Correctional Facility since February. But according to a federal complaint, which alleges violation of the journal's First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, several inmate subscribers did not receive copies of the journal. According to the complaint, prisoners weren't allowed to receive copies of the journal because it contains advertisements from companies that provide pen-pal services to prisoners. The Indiana Department of Correction has a policy prohibiting prisoners from participating in pen-pal services, according to a memo sent to inmates by Butts' executive assistant. The memo was filed in court along with the complaint.
USA Today
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