Transparency News 5/4/16

State and Local Stories

A judge in the Nicole Lovell case ruled Tuesday that a defendant will not be allowed to film her own preliminary hearing later this month. Montgomery County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Robert Viar entered an order Tuesday denying the motion for the cameras after the judge heard arguments on the matter last month. Viar offered no explanation in the order beyond his denial.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Virginia Beach School Board broke its silence about Landstown High School’s sidelined principal Tuesday. But the response echoed that of the division: That it couldn’t comment on the issue. Chairman Dan Edwards read a statement on behalf of board members just before a public hearing Tuesday evening. He said the board would act in case of an appeal and cannot be a part of the initial process. In order to complete the investigation, he said, the administration needs time.
Virginian-Pilot

Petersburg Mayor W. Howard Myers renewed and expanded his formal complaint against Ward 1 Councilwoman Treska Wilson-Smith on Tuesday, accusing her of refusing to follow council rules and abusing the power of her office. In that memo, Myers accused Wilson-Smith of “repeated and continued refusal to abide by the rules and policies that govern City Council.” Specifically, he cited critical Facebook postings made by Wilson-Smith's husband, accused her of “demanding information directly from city staff” without working through the City Manager's office, and giving a TV interview in which she “apologizes for all of council's 'mismanagement.'”
Progress-Index


National Stories
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Accidents reports in Arkansas must be open to the public without the redaction of personal information, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday. In a 5-2 decision, the court upheld a Pulaski County circuit judge's ruling that Little Rock lawyer Daniel Wren is entitled under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act to obtain unredacted accident reports from the Arkansas State Police. Wren sought the reports so he could identify potential clients. The Arkansas State Police argued that it was required by the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994 to redact personally identifying information from accident reports.
Times Record

A private prearranged discussion of public business by the majority of a public body’s members either face-to-face or by other means such as telephone, e-mail, text, or tweet, violates the Ohio Open Meetings Act, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled today. In a 5-2 vote, the Supreme Court ruled former Olentangy Local School District Board of Education member Adam White can pursue his lawsuit against the school board for violating the Open Meetings Act. White alleged the violation happened when the board president sparked an exchange of e-mails with the other board members and school officials to respond to a newspaper editorial. The decision, authored by Justice Terrence O’Donnell, reverses the decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeals, which approved a trial court’s dismissal of White’s suit. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger wrote the General Assembly has not applied the Open Meetings Act to e-mails and other forms of electronic communication, and an e-mail exchange by public officials would only be a violation if they prearranged a “real-time” exchange to subvert the law.
Court News Ohio

In what could be a blow to public access to Maine’s State House proceedings, Sen. Garrett Mason, R-Lisbon, is questioning whether legislative committee meetings should continue to be recorded and archived. Streamed online, the public meetings of the Legislature and its standing committees are available to anyone with an Internet connection. The sessions are also digitally recorded and are made available upon request to those who ask for them. Also streamed, recorded and archived are the proceedings of the state House and Senate. Mason said Thursday he’s concerned that any person who participates in a public hearing may not necessarily know a video and audio recording of their testimony is being captured for posterity. He said his objection to recording and archiving committee meetings is meant to protect individuals’ privacy. Mason and at least two other members of the Legislative Council, the governing body for the Legislature, also said they want to prohibit the use of video or audio clips of lawmakers speaking either during House and Senate floor proceedings or in committees from being used in political campaigns. 
Bangor Daily News

FBI requests for customer records under a secretive surveillance order increased by nearly 50 percent in 2015, according to a U.S. government transparency report published this week. Internet and telecommunications companies in 2015 received 48,642 requests, up from 33,024 reported in 2014, for data via so-called National Security Letters (NSLs). The NSL is a tool used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to gather phone numbers, email and IP addresses, web browsing histories and other information. An NSL does not require a warrant and is usually accompanied by a gag order.
Reuters


Editorials/Columns

After nearly three years of study, dozens of regular and committee meetings, and thousands of hours in effort, the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council appears poised to recommend legislation largely unchanged from the dreadful law it was tasked to fix. The council has posted on its website a reorganized draft of the state’s Freedom of Information Act, the commonwealth’s most important open government statute, and it looks frustratingly similar to existing law. The process has been suspect from the outset. The 12-member council is heavy with bureaucrats; only three are not public officials. One of those is a member of the media. The council proved unwilling to greet each exemption with the skepticism a study like this demands. Access to public documents and open meetings doesn’t ordinarily generate widespread passion among voters. And it’s tough to sustain public engagement for a three-year process devoted to this type of minutia. This much is clear, and has been for years: The Virginia FOIA no longer works as it should in making sure public documents are accessible to citizens and that elected officials conduct the people’s business in the open.
Virginian-Pilot