Transparency News, 5/20/21

The FOIA Council’s subcommittee on meetings will meet next week, May 26, at 1 p.m. On the agenda:

HB 1997: Changes the definition of “meeting” from when more than 2 members (meaning 3 or more) get together to talk about public business, to when more than 3 members (mean 4 or more) get together to talk about public business. VCOG very much opposes this.

     and

What is meant by “official public government website” in FOIA’s meeting notice provisions? A general district court judge in Wise County ruled last year that the phrase meant only those websites with a .gov extension. VCOG very much wants to see that cleared up.

Keep checking this page for the posting of the agenda and for written public comments submitted to the council.
 

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Judge Adrianne Bennett of Virginia Beach, the former chairwoman of the state parole board who is at the center of an ongoing scandal, went on “extended leave” in April and court clerks were instructed not to reach out to her with questions. Amy Burnham, the clerk of the Virginia Beach Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court, emailed those instructions to her colleagues on April 14, according to records the Richmond Times-Dispatch obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Burnham told court staff that substitute judges would handle Bennett’s cases. Burnham also told some of her colleagues not to include Bennett in emails sent to all the court’s judges, and said she was removing Bennett from a group email that went just to judges.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Two News Leader reporters were arrested Wednesday night in Elizabeth City, N.C. while covering a protest. The arrests occurred after hours of protests over the recent announcement that Andrew Brown Jr.’s killing by sheriff’s deputies was justified and that deputies involved would not be charged. Ayano Nagaishi and Alison Cutler were filming an arrest from across the street when police approached them, asking for the “ladies in the vests.” They were wearing their media vests and they repeatedly identified as media as they were being cuffed. ​Cutler asked what the charges were and the officer replied, “For standing in the street in a roadway.” A citizen filmed the arrest with Nagaishi’s phone, which an officer then retrieved and placed in her pocket.
News Leader

Engaged citizens and government gadflys, take note: while you can get a drink in a bar or go into a business in most of the Washington region, it may still be a while longer before you’ll be able to march into a county building or city hall and lodge a protest. Even as most of the region is lifting mask mandates, capacity limits, and other COVID-19 restrictions, many local legislatures — be it county boards or city councils — aren’t throwing opening the doors to the public just yet. The Arlington County Board, Prince George’s County Board, Montgomery County Council, and D.C. Council are keeping virtual meetings for the time being, opting for a more gradual reintroduction of the traditional in-person hearings and meetings that make local democracy tick.
DCist

 

Acting Solicitor of the Department of the Interior Robert Anderson was pressed by members of both parties Tuesday over how he would handle public records requests if confirmed to the position on a permanent basis. Anderson faced questions from multiple members of the Senate Energy Committee over Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, with lawmakers repeatedly calling for transparency from the administration. Ranking Member John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) questioned Anderson about what he described as reports that Biden administration officials have used encrypted messaging apps for government business, the subject of a letter Barrasso sent Secretary Deb Haaland. Separately, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) asked Anderson about the FOIA process within Interior, saying “I hope we’re going to have a clear-cut position that yes, we are going to obey the law when it comes to the Freedom of Information Act.”
The Hill