Transparency News 8/18/16

 

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling vacating former Gov. Bob McDonnell's conviction on federal corruption charges should open prison doors for Phil Hamilton, the former Newport News delegate is arguing. Hamilton, convicted in 2011 on federal charges of bribery and extortion over his efforts to have the state fund a teacher training center at Old Dominion University at the same time he was talking to university officials about working there, is serving a nine-and-a-half year sentence in federal prison. Now, he's asking the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals to let him re-argue his case to be let out, "in light of an intervening and substantive change in law" in the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling vacating McDonnell's conviction.
Daily Press

State lawmakers are accepting fewer gifts following the ordeal of former Gov. Bob McDonnell, according to new Virginia Public Access Project data. “We are held accountable by the newspaper and the public,” said state Sen. Bill DeSteph, R-Virginia Beach.
Virginian-Pilot

A couple months into a controversy that has garnered national attention, there’s one group that still hasn’t weighed in on the summer reading list controversy: Chesterfield’s School Board. Emails and calls placed to all five School Board members last week were not returned, nor were requests sent through Chesterfield County Public Schools’ Community Relations department. The controversy has garnered criticism from the American Library Association, and motivated the National Coalition Against Censorship to pen a letter of concern to school superintendent James Lane. Parents and librarians have spoken out about the controversy, as has state Sen. Amanda Chase. The controversy began earlier this year when a group of parents raised objections to books that were placed on the school system’s summer reading lists, with one parent calling the books “pornographic” and filled with “vile, vile, nasty language.” The school system revised its lists, removing offending titles such as Rainbow Rowell’s “Eleanor and Park,” Coe Booth’s “Tyrell,” and “Dope Sick” by Walter Dean Myers.
Chesterfield Observer



Editorials/Columns

When the Freedom of Information Advisory Council meets today, the latest gathering as part of a three-year study of Virginia’s open government law, members may discuss how to approach law enforcement records. Expect that to be a tricky debate, since even open-records absolutists understand why Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act includes exemptions for documents related to active investigations. The state FOIA law, however, specifies basic information about criminal activity that should be publicly available, in the interest of an informed citizenry and public safety. Law enforcement agencies routinely ignore that obligation. The FOIA Council has fallen short of expectations throughout its review process by generally choosing to endorse the status quo instead of making substantive changes to an anemic law. As it looks at the exemption governing law enforcement records, the council should recognize the pressing need for reform and seek a more thoughtful approach, one that first honors transparency and the public’s right to know.
Virginian-Pilot

Illinois’ attorney general recently cleared up some confusion about that state’s Freedom of Information Act. Virginia officials should take note. The AG, Lisa Madigan, ruled that emails sent or received on personal email accounts still qualify as public records if they discuss public business. The specific case concerned a request by CNN for emails related to a police shooting. Government acts through its employees, Madigan concluded, and it is the content of a communication — not its mode of transmission — that determines whether it is a public record. Those same principles apply in Virginia — and have for a long time. The Code of Virginia defines “public records” as “all writings and recordings that consist of letters, words or numbers, or their equivalent . . . however stored, and regardless of physical form or characteristics, prepared or owned by, or in the possession of a public body or its officers, employees or agents in the transaction of public business.” That pretty much covers it, no?
Richmond Times-Dispatch