Transparency News 11/26/13
State and Local Stories
The Democratic senator from Loudoun County maintained his 165-vote lead over state Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, in what is regarded as the closest race in recent Virginia history. And if Herring’s victory survives a possible recount, it would give Democrats all five statewide offices — governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and the two U.S. Senate seats — for the first time since 1969. Because of the extremely narrow margin, Obenshain could petition for a recount in the hope that another statewide canvass might swing the results in his favor.
Times-Dispatch
Former BVU Authority CEO Wes Rosenbalm was paid $269,420 severance, following his sudden resignation in September. The authority released that information this afternoon, following a series of Virginia Freedom of Information Act requests. Rosenbalm resigned after 12 years as CEO of the utilities provider. The package was initially described as confidential and authority officials refused to release or discuss its terms. The deal includes more than $202,000 - his annual salary - more than $50,000 in accrued vacation and sick time and almost $16,000 in insurance costs, according to a written statement. "In turn, BVU Authority was released from any potential obligations under Mr. Rosenbalm's employment agreement," General Counsel Walt Bressler said in the statement.
Herald Courier
What should Virginia do when the National Security Agency invades the private lives of its citizens? Fight back — or at least try, said one state lawmaker. By setting up a part-lawmaker, part-citizen subcommittee through a bill he just filed, the outspoken Delegate Bob Marshall wants to find out whether the NSA’s warrantless surveillance and data collection programs violate the U.S. Constitution and the Constitution of Virginia. If they do, the Manassas Republican wants to know how Virginia can put stops on spying within the commonwealth’s borders.
Watchdog.org Virginia Bureau
National Stories
Louisiana plans to go after the bank accounts and state licenses of politicians, lobbyists and political organizations that owe more than $1.2 million in ethics fines, under a crackdown launched in response to a news investigation of Louisiana's campaign finance system. Officials in charge of a new Office of Debt Recovery, set to launch Jan. 1, endorsed this week state Treasurer John Kennedy's proposal to go after people and entities with outstanding Board of Ethics fines. The office, which the Legislature authorized, will have the power to collect money directly from the personal bank accounts of those with outstanding state debts. It also will be able to suspend debtors' state licenses, including licenses for professional accreditations and even for hunting and fishing.Times-Picayune
They’re as predictable as sunrises. Get a speeding ticket or any other traffic summons in New Jersey and you can count on getting solicitations in the mail a week or so later from an attorney offering to represent you. While some people may like the idea of not having to hunt for a lawyer, state Sen. Nick Scutari (D-Union) says others consider it embarrassing and an invasion of their privacy. As a result, he’s trying to ban traffic summonses from being in the public domain. Last week, Scutari introduced a bill (S-3056) that would exempt traffic summons records from public access under the state’s Open Public Records Act.
Star-Ledger
The District Court in Arapahoe County, Colo. has denied an attempt by defense lawyers to restrict access to court records in the case of alleged Colorado theater gunman James Holmes. Holmes had asked the court to suppress all transcripts of the proceedings and the register of actions, and deny electronic access to the records in the case. The court denied the request without a hearing on Nov. 22. Since much of the information has already been released, the court wrote that suppressing it now was not likely to eliminate any risk to the fairness of the trial. The court previously issued an order to keep bench conferences confidential, but all other proceedings are open to the public. Since the proceedings remain open, “It would defy logic and common sense to suppress the transcripts of those proceedings,” Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. wrote in the order denying the motion. -
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
U.S. Supreme Court justices have made it dramatically clear this month that they don't only speak through formal decisions, instead using a range of other vehicles to influence the court's agenda and telegraph their views to lower court judges, practitioners and to each other. During November the court handed down only one signed decision in an argued case. But individual justices issued seven different opinions about cases that the court did not grant. Justices issued only nine such nondecision opinions during the entire 2012-2013 term that ended in June. Two of the latest series of opinions were comments for and against pending stay applications in a Texas abortion case. Three were dissents from the denial of review or certiorari, explaining why individual justices would have taken up the case. And two were labeled opinions "respecting the denial" of review, in which justices agreed the cases should have been rejected — but suggesting that the issue involved needs to be resolved soon. In all of these circumstances, the court normally acts without any justice making a peep.
National Law Journal
British and U.S. intelligence officials say they are worried about a "doomsday" cache of highly classified, heavily encrypted material they believe former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has stored on a data cloud. The cache contains documents generated by the NSA and other agencies and includes names of U.S. and allied intelligence personnel, seven current and former U.S. officials and other sources briefed on the matter said.
Reuters
Editorials/Columns
Megan Rhyne, VCOG Blog: As Government Technology reports, Utah is poised to launch an "online repository" of "house legislator correspondence" on the Utah legislature's website. Some in the access community are pushing for tweaks to the system. But to this gal here in Virginia, where legislators and heads of political subdivisions can block off access to any and all correspondence under the "working papers" exemption, those tweaks are like adding a sports-package to an already tricked-out Mercedes. If anything, Virginia has been going in the opposite direction.News & Advance: Last week when majority Democrats in the U.S. Senate altered that chamber’s filibuster rules, we editorialized that restricting the rights of the Republican minority might come back to haunt Democrats one day. Today, we have a similar warning for Republians who control Virginia’s General Assembly. We’re talking about the possibility that Republican Mark Obenshain, who narrowly lost the race for attorney general to Democrat Mark Herring, might forego a recount of Herring’s 165-vote victory and launch an election contest in the Assembly.
Times-Dispatch: Recounts in Virginia races have tended not to reverse results — a testimony to the care and professionalism with which elections are conducted. Nevertheless, the irregularities in this year’s election — particularly in Fairfax — justify additional scrutiny. They also remind the public that even well-run elections are far from perfect affairs. A flawless election remains the ideal, but the path the real world can follow to approach it will always be asymptotic. Political parties might draw a different lesson. The closeness of the contest for AG, combined with the office’s function as a frequent stepping stone to the governorship, could lead to the conclusion that a slightly harder fight — a little more money raised, a few more doors knocked on, a bit more mud slung — could make all the difference.Virginians should count themselves lucky that politicians have not figured out how to gerrymander a statewide race — yet. Let’s hope they never do.
