Transparency News, 4/30/20

 

State prison officials broke the law when they “willingly and knowingly” withheld information about strip searches from the public, a judge ruled. Norfolk Circuit Judge Junius Fulton III found Department of Corrections officials acted in “bad faith,” violating both the spirit and letter of the state’s public records laws when they failed to hand over information that a Virginian-Pilot reporter had asked for. Fulton ruled in the newspaper’s favor in a lawsuit it filed earlier this year. In December, Pilot reporter Gary Harki, using the state’s Freedom of Information Act, requested public information about strip searches. The information he sought included the names of prisoner visitors who’d been strip searched, the reasons they were strip searched, and those who were banned for refusing to be strip searched. In December, Pilot reporter Gary Harki, using the state’s Freedom of Information Act, requested public information about strip searches. The information he sought included the names of prisoner visitors who’d been strip searched, the reasons they were strip searched, and those who were banned for refusing to be strip searched.
The Virginian-Pilot (story includes the opinion)

 

 

 

Newly released documents about the origins of the criminal case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn show that FBI officials feared that the new Trump White House might view the bureau as “playing games” if it sought to interview him without disclosing exactly what it was up to. The four pages of records provided to Flynn’s defense attorneys last week and unsealed on Wednesday by a federal judge reflect internal brainstorming at the FBI in January 2017 about how to approach the politically explosive investigation into Flynn’s contacts with the Russian ambassador weeks earlier, during the presidential transition.
Politico

The city of Waukegan, Illinois, stopped responding to at least some Freedom of Information Act requests when it closed its City Hall last month, a move that went against guidance from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. The problem was “simple miscommunication” and all public records requests will be answered moving forward, Mayor Sam Cunningham said Tuesday, reversing the policy laid out by City Clerk Janet Kilkelly in an email the day before. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot had called for a suspension of FOIA deadlines ahead of the guidance being released by the Attorney General’s Office, saying efforts by reporters and others to get information from the city should take a back seat to saving lives during the coronavirus pandemic. At some point, some city officials got the impression that because City Hall was closed, those days did not count toward the five business days, Cunningham said. That misunderstanding has been corrected and the FOIA process is “back on track,” though some requests may take longer and extensions may be asked for as a result of the ongoing coronavirus-caused staffing changes.
Chicago Tribune

For a meeting of the majority of Canada’s elected representatives, it was remarkably quiet. The Canadian Parliament’s first virtual replacement for a sitting of the House of Commons lacked the customary heckling that so often fills the chamber during daily question periods. The hecklers held back when on Tuesday afternoon, roughly 280 of Canada’s 338 members of Parliament participated in the country’s first virtual meeting of its kind. The three-hour event was intended to give all MPs a chance to question the Liberal government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Politico

The 48-member Connecticut task force charged with making recommendations on reopening the state meets privately. It’s not subject to Freedom of Information laws. However, Governor Lamont says they will be available for questions during his briefings every Thursday.
WSHU