Transparency News, 12/28/2022
Wednesday
December 28, 2022
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state & local news stories
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A local lobbying group is asking a court to make Warrenton Town Clerk Stephen Clough personally liable for potentially millions of dollars in monetary penalties after what the group says was his incorrect interpretation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The suit, filed by Citizens for Fauquier County, is related to the group’s scrutiny of the Amazon Web Services’ application to build a data center on a 42-acre industrial parcel on Blackwell Road and the group’s efforts to obtain thousands of pages of town emails related to the application. The lawsuit was filed Dec. 22 in Fauquier County Circuit Court and claims that Clough, who also serves as the town’s FOIA officer, took a “breathtakingly broad interpretation” of a provision in VFOIA — the "CEO exemption" — that exempts “working papers and correspondence” of the “mayor or chief executive officer” from disclosure requirements. The lawsuit states that CFFC wants access to thousands of pages of emails and other documents related to Amazon’s application — documents that Clough said were exempt under state law.
Fauquier Times
In 2018, the Supreme Court of Virginia recommended all courthouses in the state allow visitors to bring and use their cellphones in the buildings. Four years later, it doesn’t appear very many followed through on the suggestion. In Hampton Roads, only Portsmouth’s courthouse allows the public to bring phones into common areas and courtrooms. And it was allowing citizens to take them in long before the state Supreme Court suggested it. The state’s high court doesn’t keep comprehensive data on how many courthouses in Virginia’s roughly 120 cities and counties permit citizens to bring phones and other electronic devices inside. The court noted when it issued its proposal in 2018 that the use of portable electronic devices in society had increased dramatically, and they had become an essential part of people’s personal lives and work. It also noted that parties involved in court cases often have evidence stored on their phones and need to be able to access it in court. The court noted when it issued its proposal in 2018 that the use of portable electronic devices in society had increased dramatically, and they had become an essential part of people’s personal lives and work. It also noted that parties involved in court cases often have evidence stored on their phones and need to be able to access it in court.
Daily Press
A Virginia Beach police officer killed Donovon Lynch during a chaotic night at the Oceanfront in March 2021. Now Wayne Lynch, Donovon's father, tells 13News Now the $3 million settlement with the city is not a done deal. He says he's parted ways with his case attorney for the suit, former Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax. This comes two weeks after Wayne and Fairfax stood side by side outside the federal courthouse in Norfolk, celebrating what appeared to be the closing of this case. In an email Lynch sent Tuesday, he wrote: "The Settlement and Release in the Lawsuit has not been finalized. I regret that it was publicly disclosed before all non-monetary terms were finalized."
WVEC
stories of national interest
Just over a year after new laws took effect in Maryland to increase access to police misconduct and internal affairs records, a host of public interest groups and news organizations are now asking the courts for help forcing government agencies to comply. While the laws passed in the 2021 legislative session were intended to increase transparency and accountability for government actors, especially police departments, the implementation has been inconsistent statewide, groups suing for more open access to records have asserted. They say agencies are charging exorbitant fees for public records, missing mandated deadlines and denying requests altogether.
The Washington Post
Before his mid-December arrest, cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried repeatedly claimed that he was a responsible business leader who sought more regulation of cryptocurrency and wanted his industry to be part of the mainstream financial system. But now that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Justice Department are prosecuting the 30-year-old for fraud, the extensive professional relationships he cultivated with current and former federal regulators risk embarrassment for all involved. Many of Bankman-Fried’s top deputies were former regulators. Ryne Miller, FTX’s general counsel, previously served as legal counsel to Gary Gensler, the then-CFTC chairman who is now the chairman of the SEC. Miller helped arrange for Bankman-Fried to meet and dine with former CFTC Commissioner Dan Berkovitz, the current general counsel for the SEC, emails The Times obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show.
Los Angeles Times
