Transparency News 5/2/16

State and Local Stories

Nationwide, there is little accurate data on fatal police shootings beyond what has been counted by media outlets, such as The Washington Post and the British-based newspaper The Guardian. The Virginian-Pilot created its own database, tracking all fatal police-involved shootings in the state for the past six-plus years. To compile the database, The Pilot requested information on fatal police shootings from 2010 through the middle of 2015 from all 120 commonwealth’s attorneys in Virginia, as well as 50 police departments. From the middle of 2015 through present day, the newspaper continues to track shootings statewide.
Virginian-Pilot

Video images captured outside Jamycheal Mitchell’s cell at Hampton Roads Regional Jail in the days and hours leading up to his death no longer exist, even though an attorney representing the mentally ill man’s family says he asked the jail’s superintendent to preserve it. The only people who saw the video before it was recorded over are employees of the jail, said Lt. Col. Eugene Taylor III, an assistant superintendent at the jail. Taylor said the video was not saved because it did not show any type of criminality or negligence, but the attorney representing Mitchell’s family said the jail should not have the authority to make that judgment call on its own.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

A judge ruled Friday that Shenandoah County School Board members should be allowed to view a videotape that Sheriff Timothy C. Carter had been withholding from them on grounds that it was part of an ongoing criminal investigation and a legal requirement to protect the identity of juveniles. Circuit Judge Thomas Wilson IV ordered Carter to “make the video available and to show it to the School Board, at the times determined by the School Board chair, in the presence of parents and the students at the upcoming School Board disciplinary hearings, in closed session.” A judge ruled Friday that Shenandoah County School Board members should be allowed to view a videotape that Sheriff Timothy C. Carter had been withholding from them on grounds that it was part of an ongoing criminal investigation and a legal requirement to protect the identity of juveniles. Circuit Judge Thomas Wilson IV ordered Carter to “make the video available and to show it to the School Board, at the times determined by the School Board chair, in the presence of parents and the students at the upcoming School Board disciplinary hearings, in closed session.”
Northern Virginia Daily​


National Stories
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The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld the University of Michigan's practice of holding some of its board meetings behind closed doors. The ruling upheld a lower court's ruling in a lawsuit filed by the Detroit Free Press. "The Constitution permits defendant to hold informal meetings in private; defendant is only required to hold its formal meetings in public," the ruling said. "We are simply not empowered to evaluate whether that is good policy or, for that matter, take any action on the basis of whether we might believe it to be. However, we note that plaintiffs need not be concerned that this gives defendant completely unfettered discretion: Our Supreme Court has also determined that although defendant and similarly situated boards are entitled to a great deal of deference, such boards’ determination of what constitutes 'formal' and 'informal' is not wholly insulated from judicial review." The ruling is likely to be appealed to the state Supreme Court.
Detroit Free Press


Editorials/Columns

IT’S NORFOLK’S turn to be ashamed about how it handles public information.  In the past week, Virginian-Pilot reporters have revealed:  That the city’s top administrators claim there was no public business conducted in thousands of texts sent over a 12-month period, despite assertions to the contrary by some of the people involved in the correspondence. That the school division can’t retrieve “at least four years of academic information from an old database system, including details about current students and courses linked to state exams.” Under the state’s Freedom of Information Act, this newspaper requested the texts and database information. The requests were necessary — the entire law itself is necessary — because government leaders refuse to acknowledge that doing the public’s business should be subject to examination by citizens.
Virginian-Pilot

That’s not jets roaring overhead in Virginia Beach. Or empty light-rail cars crawling along the tracks in Norfolk. It’s the sound of industrial-strength paper shredders, churning away, as Portsmouth destroys mountains of paperwork while often keeping only vague records of what’s been sliced and diced. Let’s not jump to conclusions. No point in assuming city officials are incompetent or deliberately destroying records that should be maintained. This could very well be a clever attempt to do something terrific for Portsmouth. What if all of this shredding is actually an effort by innovative public officials to secure a new industry and a unique title for Portsmouth: The Confetti Capital of Virginia.
Kerry Dougherty, Virginian-Pilot

On Wednesday, the Virginia Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that could affect state law and have ramifications for how Virginians elect their politicians. But the narrow, immediate issue before the court is legislative privilege and what documents will be kept from public view in this dispute.  The GOP-controlled House, in contrast, agreed to provide members’ emails about the 2011 and legislative and 2012 congressional redistricting. Senators, it appears, may be more worried about being shamed than guarding legislative privilege. OneVirginia2021 offered to accept documents under a protective order so that only those admitted by the Circuit Court would be disclosed. The defendants said no. Now, a high court ruling could redefine what correspondence state legislators can withhold, even when subpoenaed in a lawsuit. The senators want the Supreme Court to determine whether legislators’ privilege keeps confidential their communications with staff, specifically the Division of Legislative Services, the bill-writing and research arm of the assembly. But the spectacle of six senators being held in contempt of court embarrasses the commonwealth. If the appeal goes against them, they will rack up at least $51,000 in contempt fines, estimates Brian Cannon, executive director of OneVirginia2021.
Free Lance-Star