Transparency News 1/2/15
State and Local Stories
Del. Christopher T. Head, R-Botetourt, has filed HB 1405 which aims to allow localities with a population of 50,000 or greater to meet certain notice requirements by utilizing their websites, radio or television instead of publishing in a newspaper of general circulation. The same bill filed during the 2014 General Assembly session was defeated 7-3 in a subcommittee of the House Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns -- the third consecutive year that Head filed the bill and it's been defeated. Del. Richard P. "Dickie" Bell, R-Staunton, filed HB 1438 that provides localities alternatives to publish in a newspapers of general circulation in the locality for legal ad and other notices of proposed action.
Virginia’s ePress
A dozen Virginia voters filed suit in federal court last week, asking the judiciary to put a hold on the coming House of Delegates elections and throw out voting lines for 12 state House districts. The group, backed by attorneys that specialize in redistricting cases, accuses the state House's Republican majority of illegally packing black voters into the districts to lessen black voting strength in surrounding areas. It's the same argument that a three-judge panel accepted in October, when it ordered a redrawing for Virginia's 3rd Congressional District.
Daily Press
Stung by a year of voter frustration over county spending decisions, the incoming head of the Arlington County Board announced a new effort Thursday to seek community input on whether and where schools, fire stations and other civic infrastructure should be built as well as on how to retain parks and open space. Mary H. Hynes (D) said she will appoint 20 residents to study and advise elected officials. She promised broad outreach countywide to “deeply engage as many people as are willing to be engaged with us.”
Washington Post
This month, as legislators in Virginia and other states convene for the 2015 session, pages across the country will again be returning to state capitols to help out and to learn about the lawmaking process.Several states have legislative page programs, but few are as extensive as Virginia’s.Among the states that have a program, they typically run from a single day up to two weeks. But tighter budgets -- along with the rise of electronic communication, which has made it easier for lawmakers to communicate without passing paper back and forth -- have led many to question the value of state page programs. Even the U.S. House of Representatives shut down its program in 2011, citing costs and a dwindling need for pages. (The U.S. House program also had been a source of scandal, attracting questions about lax oversight.) Virginia, where the page program dates back at least to 1848, spends about $500,000 a year to run the Senate and House programs. But House Speaker William Howell told a local TV station that it’s money well spent. “Pages are irreplaceable. Receiving a rare glimpse at a young age into Virginia politics, they learn how government works. Many of them have come back either as people working in the legislature or as elected officials. It’s a great program.”
Governing
National Stories
The U.S. Supreme Court will move into the 21st century world of electronic communications and post all its briefs and appeal petitions online, but not before 2016 at the earliest, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said in his year-end report on the judiciary. The court will "often choose to be late to the harvest of American ingenuity," he said in explaining why change comes slowly. Roberts works in a marble building where TV and radio broadcasts are forbidden and where the nine justices exchange ideas by writing messages on paper and having them delivered down the hall. Since becoming chief justice in 2005, Roberts has moved very gradually to open the court and release more of its work on the Internet. Decisions have been posted on its website since 2000. Roberts arranged to have daily transcripts of the court's oral arguments posted on the website as well. At the week's end, audio recordings to the arguments are posted. Lawyers and others may check the status of pending cases through its "docket search." The site lists the names and contact information for lawyers who have submitted briefs. But those who want to read briefs or appeal petitions need to check elsewhere. While many are posted online by the American Bar Association and others, the Supreme Court itself does not post on its website the thousands of briefs that are filed each year.McClatchy
Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! If only the internet had its own version of Lost in Space’s robot to herald every lurking hazard or menace with an unequivocal warning. Unfortunately Robot B-9 isn’t available. So in his absence we’ve compiled a list of candidates we consider to be this year’s most dangerous. We’ve taken a broad view of danger, though—it’s not just about who is potentially a danger to public safety, but also about entities who might be considered a danger simply because they rock the status quo.
Wired
The Senate Judiciary Committee wants more answers about law enforcement agencies across the country deploying surveillance technology, including trick cellphone towers, that gather cellphone data, according to a letter obtained Thursday by FoxNews.com The bipartisan letter was sent to the departments of Justice and Homeland Security, following a recent FBI policy change regarding search warrants that committee leaders say raises questions about privacy protections and how the equipment was used. Among the tools singled out in the letter is a Stingray, a device that pretends it is a cellphone tower and tricks cellphones into identifying some of their owners' account information.
Fox News
Editorials/Columns
Daily Press
In 1954, when the Supreme Court ruled that segregated public schools were unconstitutional, Chief Justice Earl Warren emphasized the importance of public education as a crucible for good citizenship. “Today,” Warren wrote, “education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. Compulsory school attendance laws and the great expenditures for education both demonstrate our recognition of the importance of education to our democratic society. It is required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities, even service in the armed forces. It is the very foundation of good citizenship.” But a growing number of critics charge that education in good citizenship is being shortchanged by an American educational system that is focused on other “core competencies.” The result is that too many products of that system are ignorant of the basics of how American democracy functions, and lack the knowledge to participate fully in the society it sustains. One of the most prominent spokespeople for this view is retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the last member of the court to have held elected office.
Los Angeles Times
