Transparency News 5/16/16

State and Local Stories

It is slow going at the registrar’s office when it comes to determining how many people support kicking city Treasurer Anthony Burfoot out of office amid allegations he took almost half a million dollars in kickbacks and bribes as a councilman. Organizers of an effort to recall Burfoot turned in about 5,000 voters’ signatures on March 31 and 400 or so on April 22. But Registrar Stephanie Iles said her office is only partially through the first batch. “We’re working on it every day,” Iles said, explaining that the tally of verified signatures Friday stood at over 2,500 and that relatively few names had been disqualified. “It’s just time-consuming.”
Virginian-Pilot

Virginia is one of two states where judges are elected by legislators, and the resulting tension is evident when it comes to evaluating courtroom performance. That spilled into the open last week at the state’s annual judicial conference in Williamsburg, where the chief justice of the Virginia Supreme Court and the heads of the General Assembly courts committees took questions from concerned judges about the complex and evolving program used to evaluate jurists on the job and for reappointment. Queries from the judges to the panel members included concern about attempts by legislators to improperly influence pending court cases; whether proper but unpopular judicial decisions play a role in reappointment; and disbelief that “remarks” made by anonymous evaluators are not seen by the legislators.
Richmond Times-Dispatch



National Stories
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Revealing Texas' supplier of execution drugs could have a harmful effect on the provider and as a result leave the state empty-handed, a lawyer for the state suggested last week during an appeals court hearing. State Deputy Solicitor General Matthew Frederick told a three-judge panel on the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals that a "substantial risk" comes with naming the state’s supplier. Specifically, he said, people who are against the death penalty might lash out against the supplier. "Pharmacies don't have security details," Frederick said. "Their only protection is anonymity."But three lawyers who have filed suit to release the identity of lethal injection drug suppliers say that no “substantial threat of physical harm” exists; therefore, the information legally cannot be withheld, their attorney, Philip Durst, argued.
Texas Tribune

The city of Mesa, Washington, faces paying more than twice its annual budget to settle a state Public Records Act dispute with its former mayor, Donna Zink. Franklin County Superior Court Judge Bruce A. Spanner assessed a $353,000 penalty against the tiny farm city for 33 separate infractions of the state records law during a hearing Tuesday. It amounts to more than $700 per resident. There is no insurance coverage available for public records-related litigation, which means Mesa will pay the final amount from its general fund budget. Zink said she was pleased by the penalty but not the legal fees award.
Tri-City Herald

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Wednesday signed legislation requiring police and prosecutors to keep the addresses and other personal information of crime victims and witnesses secret from the public and in some cases defense lawyers without a court order. Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery pushed the bill as a way to protect victims. One key provision says photos of minor victims are presumptively not public. A more sweeping provision keeps the address, phone numbers and other identifying information of victims and witnesses private.
Albuquerque Journal



Editorials/Columns

UNDER VIRGINIA’S open records law, state agencies have a legal obligation to respond quickly and professionally to citizen requests for documents and information. Unfortunately, some state agencies ignore the law’s provisions with complete impunity — as I learned when dealing with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. Nine months after my initial request, I still haven’t received all the information I asked for, and I’m unable to decipher some of what was sent. The entire process, deeply frustrating and absurdly protracted, has been a bitter deterrent to submitting future FOIA requests — and that was obviously DCR’s intention all along.
J.M. Aguiar, Virginian-Pilot