Transparency News 12/19/16
Monday, December 19, 2016
State and Local Stories
The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press on Friday appealed a judge’s decision to prohibit reporters from covering a hearing on domestic and child abuse charges against a state lawmaker. Judge Robert S. Brewbaker Jr. on Thursday issued a written order barring journalists from Del. Rick Morris’ hearing in Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. The prosecutor and defense attorney both wanted the media banned because the key witness was a child, according to the order. Reporters were not allowed in the courtroom to state their objections before the judge made his decision. Brewbaker dismissed six of the seven felony charges Morris faced. An attorney for the Daily Press, Johan Conrod, went before Brewbaker later that day to argue for access. The judge said the hearing was open to the public, but not to the media, Conrod said. The judge told the lawyer a member of the public was in the courtroom for at least part of the hearing. By appealing, the newspapers are asking the Circuit Court to reverse Brewbaker’s decision.
Virginian-Pilot
This is the money season in Virginia politics. One of them, at least. In the month before the General Assembly goes into session Jan. 11, and a legal prohibition kicks in against state officials raising campaign cash, there are no fewer than 37 scheduled fundraisers. That's despite a nearly two-week break for Christmas and New Year's. There were at least 11 legislative fundraisers this past week, plus one for Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, who's running for governor next year. The Daily Press RSVP'd for every one of them, explaining a desire to write about campaign financing, not to donate. Each request was politely rejected, or ignored.
Daily Press
Taxpayers have spent more defending and settling lawsuits against the Richmond Sheriff’s Office and the city’s jail since 2011 than any other sheriff and jail in the state, according to data from the Virginia Department of the Treasury. About $6 million in claims of wrongdoing involving the Richmond jail and sheriff’s office paid by the state were resolved over a five-year period ended June 30, 2016. That’s about $1.5 million more than the next agency on the list and $5.2 million above the average of agencies with at least $100,000 in claims.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Long before the U.S. Department of Justice decided to investigate the jail where Jamycheal Mitchell wasted away in plain sight of guards and nurses, inmates in Virginia were dying at a rate of roughly 110 a year. Many of their families filed lawsuits that have carried a hefty price for taxpayers — one that stands to grow. The state has spent more than $38.6 million defending and settling claims against jails, sheriff’s departments, prisons and mental health facilities during the past five fiscal years, according to data from the Virginia Department of the Treasury. While some of the claims involved accusations of excessive force by deputies, wrongful arrests and other negligence, many of the most expensive cases were filed by the families of those who died while incarcerated, according to court records and treasury data.
Roanoke Times
Norfolk City Treasurer Anthony Burfoot can remain in office for now despite his convictions for public corruption, but a group of residents wants to ensure that can’t happen again. They want to change state law, so that any public official found guilty of a felony in the future immediately will be suspended from office pending appeal. Under state law, Burfoot can stay in office until he has exhausted all his rights to challenge his conviction, including appeal if necessary. Burfoot’s attorney, Andrew Sacks, said he respects the residents’ push to change that law and apply it to future cases. “That’s the way a democracy works,” Sacks said. But he added: “You can’t change the rules in the middle of the game.”
Virginian-Pilot
Six months after Metro began allowing app developers to track its trains in real-time, transit wonks were eagerly sharing their thoughts on how to improve the commutes of hundreds of thousands of Metro users, many of whom are frustrated by chronic delays and service disruptions related to SafeTrack. The gathering at Metro’s headquarters, the latest in the series of monthly meetups sponsored by Mobility Lab, the research arm of Arlington County commuter services, was all about little fixes developers can make to improve riders’ experience, said Paul Mackie, a spokesman for Mobility Lab. “This doesn’t need to be part of a 30-year-planning process or even a five-year process — a lot of these things can be incorporated immediately,” Mackie said. “It’s not only free labor, but it’s passionate and caring labor.”
Washington Post
National Stories
R. Bruce Josten has been in the middle of the biggest deals in Washington over the past few decades without ever holding office, working on Capitol Hill or serving in the White House. As executive vice president for government affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Josten, 66, was the point man for business interests in a slew of heavy-duty trade, tax and energy negotiations. He was a master at the inside game. Washington, he said, has become an “I win, you lose” town rather than a “how do we get this done” town where those skilled in what he calls the “art of the back room” can have a big effect. “I actually do miss the smoke-filled rooms of yesteryear,” said Mr. Josten, and not just because he quit smoking after a health scare three years ago. “Because you got a lot done.”
New York Times
E-mail phishing is how Sedgwick County, Kansas, government lost more than $500,000 to fraudulent activity, according to a document inadvertently made public this week. The county received a Sept. 18 e-mail “that appeared to be from (a) vendor asking that billing information … be changed,” according to a property loss notice filed with Lexington Insurance Company in late October. The new information was for “future ACH withdrawals.” That refers to the Automated Clearing House, the electronic network for financial transactions in the United States.
The Wichita Eagle
A reporter for the group N.C. Policy Watch was arrested Thursday when police closed the House chamber’s public gallery during a debate. Joe Killian was covering the session for Policy Watch, which is part of the liberal advocacy group N.C. Justice Center. Killian previously wrote for The Greensboro News & Record. Police had demanded that all journalists, lobbyists and other members of the public leave the gallery after NAACP protesters interrupted the House session by chanting. Police arrested a number of people who refused to leave and charged them with trespassing. Journalists who are affiliated with advocacy groups do not have press credentials that allow them on the House and Senate floors, so they must sit in the public gallery to cover legislative sessions. Both chambers’ galleries were closed Thursday, meaning members of the public who wanted to watch the proceedings in person could not do so. The people arrested were taken to the Legislative Building’s basement for processing. Police told two reporters to leave a public hallway where they’d been watching the arrival of those arrested.
Raleigh News & Observer
Editorials/Columns
Last week, one of our elected officials was cleared of most of the charges of domestic abuse levied — quite publicly — against him. How and why? Your guess is as good as ours. Reporters were barred from hearing the evidence against Del. Rick Morris, R-Carrollton, or what Suffolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Robert S. Brewbaker Jr. thought about it. That's because Judge Brewbaker, while hearing a case about an elected official, decided news reporters aren't actually members of the public and therefore don't have the same rights. That was news to us, since we have always believed that we represent the citizens in their right to know what actions their government takes. For that matter, we pay taxes and we vote, too. We are the public, and when the public's business is being done, we intend to be in the room where it happens. In this instance, the logic offered by Judge Brewbaker has holes in it large enough for an aircraft carrier to navigate with room to spare.
Daily Press
Virginian-Pilot
This is the money season in Virginia politics. One of them, at least. In the month before the General Assembly goes into session Jan. 11, and a legal prohibition kicks in against state officials raising campaign cash, there are no fewer than 37 scheduled fundraisers. That's despite a nearly two-week break for Christmas and New Year's. There were at least 11 legislative fundraisers this past week, plus one for Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, who's running for governor next year. The Daily Press RSVP'd for every one of them, explaining a desire to write about campaign financing, not to donate. Each request was politely rejected, or ignored.
Daily Press
Taxpayers have spent more defending and settling lawsuits against the Richmond Sheriff’s Office and the city’s jail since 2011 than any other sheriff and jail in the state, according to data from the Virginia Department of the Treasury. About $6 million in claims of wrongdoing involving the Richmond jail and sheriff’s office paid by the state were resolved over a five-year period ended June 30, 2016. That’s about $1.5 million more than the next agency on the list and $5.2 million above the average of agencies with at least $100,000 in claims.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Long before the U.S. Department of Justice decided to investigate the jail where Jamycheal Mitchell wasted away in plain sight of guards and nurses, inmates in Virginia were dying at a rate of roughly 110 a year. Many of their families filed lawsuits that have carried a hefty price for taxpayers — one that stands to grow. The state has spent more than $38.6 million defending and settling claims against jails, sheriff’s departments, prisons and mental health facilities during the past five fiscal years, according to data from the Virginia Department of the Treasury. While some of the claims involved accusations of excessive force by deputies, wrongful arrests and other negligence, many of the most expensive cases were filed by the families of those who died while incarcerated, according to court records and treasury data.
Roanoke Times
Norfolk City Treasurer Anthony Burfoot can remain in office for now despite his convictions for public corruption, but a group of residents wants to ensure that can’t happen again. They want to change state law, so that any public official found guilty of a felony in the future immediately will be suspended from office pending appeal. Under state law, Burfoot can stay in office until he has exhausted all his rights to challenge his conviction, including appeal if necessary. Burfoot’s attorney, Andrew Sacks, said he respects the residents’ push to change that law and apply it to future cases. “That’s the way a democracy works,” Sacks said. But he added: “You can’t change the rules in the middle of the game.”
Virginian-Pilot
Six months after Metro began allowing app developers to track its trains in real-time, transit wonks were eagerly sharing their thoughts on how to improve the commutes of hundreds of thousands of Metro users, many of whom are frustrated by chronic delays and service disruptions related to SafeTrack. The gathering at Metro’s headquarters, the latest in the series of monthly meetups sponsored by Mobility Lab, the research arm of Arlington County commuter services, was all about little fixes developers can make to improve riders’ experience, said Paul Mackie, a spokesman for Mobility Lab. “This doesn’t need to be part of a 30-year-planning process or even a five-year process — a lot of these things can be incorporated immediately,” Mackie said. “It’s not only free labor, but it’s passionate and caring labor.”
Washington Post
National Stories
R. Bruce Josten has been in the middle of the biggest deals in Washington over the past few decades without ever holding office, working on Capitol Hill or serving in the White House. As executive vice president for government affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Josten, 66, was the point man for business interests in a slew of heavy-duty trade, tax and energy negotiations. He was a master at the inside game. Washington, he said, has become an “I win, you lose” town rather than a “how do we get this done” town where those skilled in what he calls the “art of the back room” can have a big effect. “I actually do miss the smoke-filled rooms of yesteryear,” said Mr. Josten, and not just because he quit smoking after a health scare three years ago. “Because you got a lot done.”
New York Times
E-mail phishing is how Sedgwick County, Kansas, government lost more than $500,000 to fraudulent activity, according to a document inadvertently made public this week. The county received a Sept. 18 e-mail “that appeared to be from (a) vendor asking that billing information … be changed,” according to a property loss notice filed with Lexington Insurance Company in late October. The new information was for “future ACH withdrawals.” That refers to the Automated Clearing House, the electronic network for financial transactions in the United States.
The Wichita Eagle
A reporter for the group N.C. Policy Watch was arrested Thursday when police closed the House chamber’s public gallery during a debate. Joe Killian was covering the session for Policy Watch, which is part of the liberal advocacy group N.C. Justice Center. Killian previously wrote for The Greensboro News & Record. Police had demanded that all journalists, lobbyists and other members of the public leave the gallery after NAACP protesters interrupted the House session by chanting. Police arrested a number of people who refused to leave and charged them with trespassing. Journalists who are affiliated with advocacy groups do not have press credentials that allow them on the House and Senate floors, so they must sit in the public gallery to cover legislative sessions. Both chambers’ galleries were closed Thursday, meaning members of the public who wanted to watch the proceedings in person could not do so. The people arrested were taken to the Legislative Building’s basement for processing. Police told two reporters to leave a public hallway where they’d been watching the arrival of those arrested.
Raleigh News & Observer
Editorials/Columns
Last week, one of our elected officials was cleared of most of the charges of domestic abuse levied — quite publicly — against him. How and why? Your guess is as good as ours. Reporters were barred from hearing the evidence against Del. Rick Morris, R-Carrollton, or what Suffolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Robert S. Brewbaker Jr. thought about it. That's because Judge Brewbaker, while hearing a case about an elected official, decided news reporters aren't actually members of the public and therefore don't have the same rights. That was news to us, since we have always believed that we represent the citizens in their right to know what actions their government takes. For that matter, we pay taxes and we vote, too. We are the public, and when the public's business is being done, we intend to be in the room where it happens. In this instance, the logic offered by Judge Brewbaker has holes in it large enough for an aircraft carrier to navigate with room to spare.
Daily Press
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