Transparency News 11/14/16

State and Local Stories
 

ACCESS '16 James Madison's Montpelier December 8, 2016 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (exact schedule to be determined)   Earlybird Registration through Nov. 18:  $30 members; $40 non-members After Nov. 18:  $35 members; $45 non-members Students:  $25 Donations, sponsorships: Any amount is welcome!! Click here for more details

A Virginia Beach police officer accused of racial profiling by a local civic league president has sued, claiming the president defamed him in a series of emails sent to dozens of people. Master Police Officer Phillip Greenfield is seeking $600,000 in damages from Seatack Community Civic League President E. George Minns. The officer, who has been assigned to patrol the Seatack area for the past 14 years, filed the lawsuit Oct. 28 in Circuit Court. Greenfield claims Minns defamed him in three emails sent in August and September. The first was addressed to 72 recipients, the second to 48 and the third to 36. The emails accused the officer of racial profiling when he pulled over a black man driving a Mercedes vehicle through the Atlantis apartment complex on the evening of Aug. 5, the lawsuit states. The area has been victimized by crime, including drug distribution, property crimes and violence, according to the lawsuit.
Virginian-Pilot

In an odd and perhaps unprecedented turn, the City of Franklin, west of Suffolk, will be without a School Board for at least a little while. It’s the latest development in a dispute between the City Council and school division over financial matters that has gone on for two weeks. The council asked all seven board members to resign, which they did. Late Wednesday, the council unanimously accepted the resignations, leaving the division without a board.
Virginian-Pilot


National Stories
​

If nationwide protests against President-elect Donald Trump are any indication, Washington will likely teem with demonstrations on Inauguration Day. But where protests will be allowed along the inauguration parade route is a point of contention among activists.
Washington Times

Amid a contentious presidential campaign, a civics videogame from a group founded by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor got a lot of play in New York and New Jersey classrooms. iCivics, a nonprofit, has released 19 free games aimed at helping students in grades 4 to 12 improve civil discourse, use evidence in arguments and understand others’ views.
Wall Street Journal


Editorials/Columns

The verdict in the Rolling Stone case will surely generate a spate of articles and blogs decrying the death of the First Amendment. While the potential chilling effect on journalists is clear, there are aspects of this case that members of the media should find encouraging. Judge Glen Conrad’s instructions to the jury properly reflected the incredibly high standard set forth in the 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case New York Times v. Sullivan that the evidence must meet in order to find Rolling Stone acted with “actual malice.”” In the event that the Rolling Stone verdict is appealed and affirmed, it will represent that rare case when the evidence proved actual malice — not an invitation to bring weak defamation claims.  Judge Conrad’s instructions saw to that.
Joshua Wheeler, Daily Progress
(Wheeler is a scheduled panelist at VCOG’s conference on Dec. 8, talking about the legal limits of governments deleting comments made by the public on social media.)