Transparency News 4/5/16

State and Local Stories

State Sen. John Miller, a General Assembly stalwart for public education and election reform, died suddenly Monday, his family said. The three-term senator died just a few weeks after convincing the legislature to embark on a sweeping reform of high school education in Virginia that he hoped would open new opportunities for the young Virginians he cared so much about. Miller, D-Newport News, was 68.
Daily Press

After initially expressing concerns about a bill to ensure nonexempt public records are released, Gov. Terry McAuliffe has signed it. Ginger Stanley, executive director of the Virginia Press Association, praised the governor’s decision after open-government advocates and lawmakers from both parties last month criticized his resistance.
Virginian-Pilot

A March voter-registration mailing from a Washington nonprofit appears to be based on inaccurate data, according to officials in Virginia. They're asking the Voter Participation Center to review their lists to ensure accuracy.
Virginian-Pilot

A spokeswoman for Petersburg is no longer working for the city after facing accusations that she had used work-related travel vouchers for a personal trip to Jamaica. Jay Ell Alexander’s employment with the city ended Thursday, Petersburg Mayor W. Howard Myers said Monday, without specifying whether she resigned or was fired. Alexander did not immediately respond to interview requests. Interim City Manager Dironna Moore Belton said in an email Monday that “due to this being a personnel matter and the recent sensitivity of Ms. Alexander’s departure, I am not able to provide you with any detailed information, other than she is no longer employed with the city of Petersburg.”
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Strasburg police are threatening to arrest any visitors who conduct protests on high school grounds. Police Chief Tim Sutherly said Monday that protesters not part of the staff or student body will be charged with criminal trespass. Sutherly said the warning, which was posted on the department’s Facebook page Saturday, is intended to deter protests on campus, but not those conducted elsewhere in the community. Sutherly said the warning was issued after several messages on social media sites indicated “adults and alumni” were planning to stage a protest at the school pertaining to the school administration’s handling of a school bus incident and the employment status of coaches who were on the bus.
Northern Virginia Daily



National Stories
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A judge overrode objections Monday from the (Greensboro) News & Record and sealed the audio tape of an emotional, 911 call linked to the murders of a well-known Reidsville couple more than four years ago. Superior Court Judge Stan Allen ruled that releasing the tape now could prejudice potential jurors and make it too difficult to seat an impartial panel in Rockingham County to decide the fate of Jose Alvarez Jr., the Greensboro man accused of killing Douglas “Troy” and LaDonna Moseley French in February 2012. Alvarez’s right to a fair trial trumps the media’s right to recordings that state law makes generally available to the public except in unusual or extreme circumstances, Allen said.
Register & Bee

Only 11 percent of New Jersey’s independent local authorities are in full compliance with an online transparency law that took effect on February 1, 2013, according to a study released by the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government (NJFOG). In 2011, the Office of the State Comptroller released findings that showed only three percent of 587 local government agencies posted financial data online, and more than a third had no online presence. Following release of the report, the New Jersey Legislature passed an online transparency law, which set forth 11 requirements that local government agencies must meet. These requirements include having an online presence and posting basic information such as minutes, resolutions, budgets and meeting notices.
New Jersey Foundation for Open Government

The National Archives and Records Administration told the Central Intelligence Agency last week that it was withholding approval of a CIA proposal to allow the destruction of the email records of all but 22 senior Agency officials. “NARA intends to reassess the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) proposal for the disposition of non-senior email accounts,” wrote Paul M. Wester, Jr., Chief Records Officer at NARA in a November 20 letter to Joseph Lambert, Director of Information Management Services at CIA. “Based on comments from Members of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and a number of public interest groups, we are concerned about the scope of the proposed schedule and the proposed retention periods,” Mr. Wester wrote.
Federation of American Scientists


Editorials/Columns

HULK HOGAN’S lawsuit against Gawker Media, heard in a Florida courtroom last month, had the surreal quality of, well, a professional wrestling match. Mr. Hogan sued the company after Gawker posted a video clip showing the wrestler having sex with the then-wife of his then-friend, the radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge. The amount of damages awarded to Mr. Hogan in the trial — a total of $140 million — implies that the excesses of digital media might be causing a backlash. (Gawker has said that it will appeal.) While the balance between privacy and press freedom is typically tipped to the latter in the United States, Amy Gajda, a law professor and author of “The First Amendment Bubble,” argued in Slate that recent court cases suggested “that these jurors may not be alone in giving new deference to privacy concerns.”
Robert Levine, New York Times