Transparency News 5/13/15

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

State and Local Stories


The University of Virginia’s Nicole Eramo sued Rolling Stone on Tuesday for nearly $8 million, saying the magazine depicted her as the “chief villain” in its debunked gang rape expose. Filed in Charlottesville Circuit Court, the 77-page suit claims the story authored by Sabrina Rubin Erdely falsely portrayed Eramo, UVa’s associate dean of students, as indifferent to the plight of “Jackie,” a student who claimed she’d been raped by seven men at a fraternity house. “I am filing this defamation lawsuit to set the record straight and to hold the magazine and the author of the article accountable for their actions in a way they have refused to do themselves,” Eramo said in a statement.
Daily Progress

The Lynchburg City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to continue its public hearing on school board appointments to May 26. Council member Turner Perrow cited precedent from several years of leaving more time for additional applicants to come forward.
News & Advance

Six defendants in the gang-related killing of Waynesboro reserve police Capt. Kevin Quick could wait until next year to return to court, or head to a new venue, after a federal judge declared a mistrial Tuesday. The move followed the leak of private information from the jury pool of more than 130 people to an unnamed defendant, who had the list for at least 15 hours behind bars, according to an FBI agent, who reported the breach last week.
News-Virginian

A move that some city councilors contended would promote government transparency has been unanimously tabled by the panel to give city staff time to explore other options. At Tuesday’s regular meeting, City Council effectively squashed a resolution that would have discouraged individual members from meeting one on one with applicants with business pending before the board — exchanges labeled as “ex parte communication.”
Winchester Star


National Stories
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Two weeks ago, the latest step in an 11 month legal battle between a Joelton, Tenn., man and the Sumner County Board of Education, was taken as a trial date was set during the March 25 hearing. The battle began last April when Joelton resident, Ken Jakes, sent an emailed request to view and inspect a public record, but was denied. He then filed a lawsuit against the county board's records request policy that required all records requests to be made either in person or via U.S. mail. According to Jakes' attorney, Kirk Clements, both he and Jakes feel that the legal proceedings thus far lean toward a ruling in their favor. However, Clements did add that the outlook could change as new evidence is presented. "Obviously we believe we stand on strong legal ground or we would have never brought the lawsuit," Clements said. "Most of the comments by the judge have confirmed our beliefs, but then again, the judge has yet to hear everyone's evidence, so we don't really know what the other side is going to present." While Clements feels confident so far, Todd Presnell, who represents the Sumner County Board of Education in the case, says that he feels that the county is within its rights to place their current limitations on records requests.
The Gallatin News

The State Department’s latest defense on why it can’t comply with your ancient Freedom of Information request for documents is: Blame it on Hillary. State says its document-reviewing personnel are too overwhelmed by reviewing those 55,000 pages of e-mails former secretary Hillary Clinton turned over last year to do much else. That apparently means other folks, who’ve waited years on their requests for State Department documents, are being told they’ll have to wait even longer because of the Clinton review.
Washington Post


Editorials/Columns

Lobbyists are not the bad guys. Remember that when chewing on Virginia's new ethics law that will attempt to rein in the relationship between politicians and the professionals paid to persuade them. I know, these hired hands in their expensive suits with their limitless credit cards are hard to love. But if you're looking for culprits in the sleazy orgy that seemed to engulf so much of Richmond in recent years, it's the elected officials who shamelessly slurped up the freebies. Think about it for a minute. Lobbyists are merely doing their jobs. They work for corporations and other groups that pay them to "educate" politicians. Education, as we've learned, can take curious shapes. Sometimes, it's a quick conversation over coffee. Other times, it can be an expensive dinner. Or quail hunting. Wine tastings. Concerts. Private plane rides. All-expenses-paid jaunts to casinos. But why blame clever lobbyists who probed the soft, weak underbelly of these ethically impaired pols? Instead, blame the avaricious legislators who got to the General Assembly and acted like entitled brats on Christmas morning.
Kerry Dougherty

This summer when you see your local General Assembly representative out and about, ask him about gerrymandering. He might tell you that only Democrats care that state and federal legislative districts are drawn with an eye on incumbent protection. He’d be wrong. Some Republicans see gerrymandering as the important issue it is. Truth is, the majority party as a whole is always in favor of gerrymandering. These days, that’s the Republicans. In days past, it’s been the Democrats. People of both parties, acting on their sense of fairness as individuals, have joined efforts to reduce the partisanship in redistricting. They’ve signed on to OneVirginia2021, a state group advocating for redistricting reform.
News Leader