Transparency News 12/30/16
Friday, December 30, 2016
State and Local Stories
State and Local Stories
Yesterday, a bill was filed that would flip flop the way juror information is handled. Currently, the information is presumed open, but a judge can — for good cause — issue an order “regulating the disclosure of the personal information of a juror.” The proposal would make personal inofmration about all jurors confidential except to the lawyers in the case, though a judge could issue an order for release authorizing disclosure of the name or any other personal information.
Check out HB 1546 on VCOG’s bill chart
Due to a News Leader investigation, the state is changing how it tells the public about medical practitioners on probation. During our four months of investigative reporting, we examined pharmacists and how the state pursues problems and tells — or fails to tell — consumers in a timely manner about mistakes and issues. At first, the Department of Health Professions' Matt Treacy wrote in a Nov. 23 email to The News leader that "there have been no recent discussions regarding the revamping of License Lookup to make it easier to navigate." He did not respond to questions about any board plans to increase transparency for patients and consumers. But that changed as the extensive News Leader reporting finalized and verification with the state health department of story details continued. On Dec. 2, spokeswoman Diane Powers wrote, "In response to your inquiry, board staff has identified an ability through its licensing software to indicate 'probation' as an 'action' which is now visible when searching case decisions.
News Leader
A disagreement over tax billing practices between Petersburg Treasurer Kevin A. Brown and consultants brought in to clean up the city’s finances gave rise to deeper concerns this month: What happens when the Robert Bobb Group leaves? Brown posed that question to members of the group in an email after his office’s practices drew sharp criticism from Bobb, a former Richmond city manager and president of the Washington-based turnaround firm. “I want you all to be successful and I want the city to achieve success after you all leave,” Brown wrote after raising concerns about unnamed municipal workers elevated to take on more responsibility during the group’s tenure. “I can’t afford for you all to waste my tax dollars on people that can’t get the job done.”
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Editorials/Columns
Americans’ civil liberties and technology have always been in tension with one another, but no more so than in the 15 years or so as Silicon Valley’s influence in society has exploded. One little-known but widely used bit of technology has found its way into the news in the last couple of weeks, thanks to a state court decision in a Fairfax lawsuit: license plate readers. Twelve states have imposed limits on how long data can be retained before purging. North Carolina’s limit is 90 days; Vermont’s is 18 months. Virginia law, however, is silent. In 2015, the General Assembly passed a bill limiting retention to seven days, but Gov. Terry McAuliffe, acting at the urging of police groups, vetoed it. No one disputes the technology has legitimate law enforcement uses: Cases of stolen vehicles have risen in departments that use the readers, as have instances of police locating drivers suffering from dementia getting lost. But without fair and reasonable limits on how long such massive amounts of data on individuals can be retained, there is the very real risk of the creation, by inaction, of a database of hundreds of thousands of individuals. That’s just not acceptable.
News & Advance
Check out HB 1546 on VCOG’s bill chart
Due to a News Leader investigation, the state is changing how it tells the public about medical practitioners on probation. During our four months of investigative reporting, we examined pharmacists and how the state pursues problems and tells — or fails to tell — consumers in a timely manner about mistakes and issues. At first, the Department of Health Professions' Matt Treacy wrote in a Nov. 23 email to The News leader that "there have been no recent discussions regarding the revamping of License Lookup to make it easier to navigate." He did not respond to questions about any board plans to increase transparency for patients and consumers. But that changed as the extensive News Leader reporting finalized and verification with the state health department of story details continued. On Dec. 2, spokeswoman Diane Powers wrote, "In response to your inquiry, board staff has identified an ability through its licensing software to indicate 'probation' as an 'action' which is now visible when searching case decisions.
News Leader
A disagreement over tax billing practices between Petersburg Treasurer Kevin A. Brown and consultants brought in to clean up the city’s finances gave rise to deeper concerns this month: What happens when the Robert Bobb Group leaves? Brown posed that question to members of the group in an email after his office’s practices drew sharp criticism from Bobb, a former Richmond city manager and president of the Washington-based turnaround firm. “I want you all to be successful and I want the city to achieve success after you all leave,” Brown wrote after raising concerns about unnamed municipal workers elevated to take on more responsibility during the group’s tenure. “I can’t afford for you all to waste my tax dollars on people that can’t get the job done.”
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Editorials/Columns
Americans’ civil liberties and technology have always been in tension with one another, but no more so than in the 15 years or so as Silicon Valley’s influence in society has exploded. One little-known but widely used bit of technology has found its way into the news in the last couple of weeks, thanks to a state court decision in a Fairfax lawsuit: license plate readers. Twelve states have imposed limits on how long data can be retained before purging. North Carolina’s limit is 90 days; Vermont’s is 18 months. Virginia law, however, is silent. In 2015, the General Assembly passed a bill limiting retention to seven days, but Gov. Terry McAuliffe, acting at the urging of police groups, vetoed it. No one disputes the technology has legitimate law enforcement uses: Cases of stolen vehicles have risen in departments that use the readers, as have instances of police locating drivers suffering from dementia getting lost. But without fair and reasonable limits on how long such massive amounts of data on individuals can be retained, there is the very real risk of the creation, by inaction, of a database of hundreds of thousands of individuals. That’s just not acceptable.
News & Advance
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