Transparency News 12/7/15

State and Local Stories

In a city where it’s already difficult to obtain information about how the government operates, leadership has added yet another obstacle: one-on-one closed-door meetings between the city manager and council members. City Manager Lydia Pettis Patton is holding regularly scheduled meetings with each council member, according to her September and October calendar, which was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. She meets with most council members once every two weeks, and with Councilman Mark Whitaker once a month. Councilman Bill Moody says the meetings are ongoing. The meetings are legal under Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act, but some experts say these types of private meetings have their cost.
Virginian-Pilot


National Stories
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The Arkansas Supreme Court on Friday put on hold a decision a day earlier by a lower court judge who ordered the state to disclose information about the drugs it plans to use in executions, as well as the supplier of the chemicals. The state Supreme Court ordered inmates on death row who filed the original suit to file briefs on the matter by Dec. 14. On Thursday, the Arkansas lower court judge had ordered the state to disclose information on the drugs by noon on Friday. In that decision, Judge Wendell Griffen sided with prisoners, who maintained they have a right to know whether the drugs the state would use to put them to death could cause undue pain and suffering.
Reuters

M. Roland Nachman, an Alabama lawyer who opposed The New York Times in a libel case that resulted in a landmark Supreme Court decision establishing greater leeway for newspapers and individuals to criticize government officials and other public figures, died on Nov. 24 at his home in Montgomery, Ala. He was 91. A prominent figure in Alabama legal circles — he served for a time as president of the Alabama Bar Association — Mr. Nachman became part of history when he agreed to represent L. B. Sullivan, a Montgomery city commissioner who had brought suit against The Times for an advertisement it published on March 29, 1960. The ad, a full-page request for financial support for the legal defense of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who had been charged with felony perjury, and more generally for the struggle for civil rights in the South, appeared under the headline “Heed Their Rising Voices,” a phrase taken directly from a Times editorial 10 days earlier. Mr. Sullivan’s name was not mentioned in the ad, but he contended that he had been defamed because his responsibilities included oversight of the Montgomery Police Department. The ad, he said, implied that the police had responded to civil rights protests with intimidation and violence.
New York Times

A journalism group called on Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp on Friday to release public records detailing how a massive data breach in the office happened and exactly how outside groups handled more than 6 million voters’ personal information. The Georgia chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists said the agency wrongly cited state law about open records in Georgia. The law allows agencies to exempt public documents from disclosure if they relate to an open internal investigation, although it is not mandatory in most cases.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

As tawdry as it looked to have a barrage of reporters trampling through the residence of the deceased couple responsible for this week’s mass shooting in San Bernardino, the journalists who walked through the door did the right thing. But the journalists who broadcast the invasion live were irresponsible.
Poynter

The FCC’s long effort to establish net neutrality rules came before a D.C. appeals court, as a three-judge panel raised questions over the agency’s robust regulatory move to reclassify the Internet as a common carrier. A collection of telecom and cable companies are challenging the rules, characterizing the FCC’s move last February as regulatory overreach.
Variety


Editorials/Columns

Unfortunately, I was unsurprised by the recent investigation by The Daily Progress and other newspapers into how local governments often fail to comply with state sunshine laws. I would like to add, however, that financial costs should be considered when evaluating to extent to which government officials fulfill the records requests of journalists and constituents. Last spring, I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request with Albemarle County for records related to the Western Albemarle High School Honor Council. County administrators disbanded the Western Honor Council halfway through my senior year, and I wanted to understand the reasoning behind the decision. In the end, I received only 13 emails; 29 emails were withheld for various reasons, including attorney-client privilege and because they were working papers and correspondence of the superintendent. I received a $114 refund, but at a cost of $237.74, each email cost nearly $18.
Tim Dodson, Daily Progress

VIRGINIA LAWMAKERS demonstrated their contempt for public ethics, good governance and accountability this year by rejecting key proposals of a bipartisan commission created to enhance integrity in state government. Will they do any better when they convene in Richmond again in January? That’s the question raised by the Commission on Integrity and Public Confidence in State Government, empaneled last year by Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) on the heels of Virginia’s worst political scandal in modern memory. With impressive urgency, the commission quickly made several critical initial recommendations, including legislation to establish a muscular state ethics panel, create a nonpartisan redistricting process, minimize conflicts of interest of state board and commission members, disclose the identity of donors to “bundled” campaign contributions and screen loans to officials from friends and acquaintances.
Washington Post