 "When it comes down to it, the judiciary just isn’t special."
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The judiciary claims that the bill would respect the separation of powers. But the General Assembly is Virginia’s policy-making branch and is directly responsive to the people, unlike the judiciary. As Chief Justice Lemons wrote in a 2016 Supreme Court decision, the elected Executive and Legislative Branches have the dominant role in defining public policy and are where “public policy should be shaped.” The General Assembly should regulate the courts. And, in fact, the General Assembly does so all the time. The central judicial bureaucracy, the Office of the Executive Secretary, was created by statute, and there are literally hundreds of sections of the Code of Virginia regulating Virginia’s courts and clerks at every level, from the Supreme Court down to General District Courts. For a sanity check, ask delegates and senators whether they would favor completely exempting the executive branch from FOIA and letting the governor write rules for public access. After all, the executive is a separate branch of government too. When it comes down to it, the judiciary just isn’t special.
Guest column, VCOG Blog
The judicial database, and the information it contains, is of vital interest to the public and the news media. In the past, we have agreed with the argument our colleagues at the Daily Press have made for the records to be subject to FOIA. But the court’s 2017 ruling against forcing release of the data threw the ball into the legislature’s court. That venue, we believe, is where the matter should be hashed out. This is public information that should be readily and easily available to the public. Amending FOIA to reflect this fact is the job of the state’s elected leaders, not judges who seemingly want to restrict access. It is time for the Supreme Court to cease its efforts to keep Virginians in the dark about their courts.
Register & Bee
In the name of justice and public safety, it is routine for police departments and law enforcement agencies to share information about criminals and suspects. It is counterintuitive then that these same agencies would not, or could not, share information about those within their own ranks who potentially pose a risk. And yet, in Virginia a law enforcement officer fired for serious misconduct can apply for work in another community without worrying that the police chief or sheriff will learn about past misconduct. There are rules that prevent their human resources department from sharing that information. Del. Marcia Price, D-Newport News, hopes to change that with proposed legislation that would require chiefs and sheriffs to provide that information about officerswho were arrested or sued for misconduct. Her bill would require disclosure of any internal investigation.
Daily Press
The Facebook page (on the front of this week’s Messenger) belongs to new Charlotte County School Board member Teresa Dunaway. It is an invitation only page which means members have to be invited to be a member. The page was started In May of 2017, has 383 members including all five school board members who voted to non-renew Charlotte Superintendent Nancy Leonard’s contract. Citizens are concerned because any time more than two board members meet (including electronically) constitutes a meeting, minutes must be kept and the public must be notified of the meeting in advance. Other citizens are concerned at the lack of African Americans in the group.
Southside Messenger
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