Transparency News 5/4/15

Monday, May 4, 2015

State and Local Stories


A former high-ranking police officer who once led the day-to-day operations of Hampton's undercover cigarette sting was expected to present his case this week that the city's former police chief defamed him. Former Lt. James R. Crotts, of Smithfield, accuses former Police Chief Charles R. Jordan Jr. and another Hampton officer, Christopher L. Munger, of throwing him under the bus in the aftermath of the tobacco sting. But a multiday jury trial that was expected to begin Monday — with dozens of witnesses, many of them Hampton officers — has been postponed after a crucial witness had a last-minute health issue. Police Maj. Kenneth R. "Randy" Seals — who is suing Jordan for defamation in a separate case — is a key witness at Crotts' trial. But Seals is now on bed rest, lawyers say, and his doctors don't want him testifying until he's evaluated next week.
Daily Press

Hampton's proposed budget offers little insight into the future of a high-priced aquatics facility city officials are considering for Coliseum Central. The city's budget document — which runs 358 pages — makes no direct references to the aquatics facility, and city staff is keeping private numerous consultants' reports related to the project. City employees have spent more than a year researching whether an aquatics facility with an Olympic-sized pool, spectator seating, a smaller and warmer indoor therapeutic pool or an outdoor splash park would become a financial boon or burden for the city. City employees have also taken trips to competitive swimming facilities in Cary, N.C., Roanoke and Christiansburg to gauge the cost and benefits of building a water-based pool or park in Hampton. The Hampton City Attorney's Office is not releasing four consultants' reports that could provide information about the aquatics center, including documents identified as "Crossroads Initiative Update, Aquatics Facility Study, Hotel Market Study and Coliseum Central Market Study." The Daily Press requested city-owned consultant reports using the Freedom of Information Act in an effort to better understand the city's research into projects being considered for Coliseum Central and other master plan areas.
Daily Press

Northern Virginia Community College has been ranked No. 1 nationally in its enrollment group as the “most digital” large community college. The Digital Community College awards, sponsored by the Center for Digital Education, evaluate how community colleges use digital technologies to improve services. According to the Center for Digital Education, in addition to the strength of its overall technology infrastructure and broad use of technology across college operations, judges recognized NVCC as tops for the college’s commitment to open education resources, virtual advising, distance learning, digital-classroom standards and dedicated online services for a growing distance learning population.
InsideNOVA.com

Although County Attorney Jeremy Carroll says it takes five members of the Halifax County Board of Supervisors to terminate him, he admits under present circumstances he is placed in “an untenable position” where he can no longer perform his duties in representing the county. Carroll’s resignation comes on the heels of a letter four county supervisors sent April 20 notifying the attorney as well as his firm that their “services are no longer desired by the majority of the Halifax County Board of Supervisors.” The letter, written on official county letterhead, continues, “Any further actions performed by you, or your firm, will be without majority consent of this board.” “Based on the letter, I am presented with a situation where one-half the board is unwilling to consider my advice or provide me with directives on what actions to take or not take on behalf of the county and board. For example, the letter implies that the four board members will oppose my advice no matter what it is – a position that seems unreasonable given they do not know the content of my future advice on any particular issue. “Consequently, I am incapable of effectively communicating with a majority of the board, and a majority of the board is incapable of giving me directives. The refusal of four board members to acknowledge my advice or participate in giving me directives as counsel to the board makes it impossible for me to do my job,” he said in his resignation letter.
Gazette-Virginian

Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Friday vetoed legislation that would have limited how long law enforcement may store data from license-plate readers and other surveillance technology, despite widespread support from lawmakers and civil liberties advocates. In siding with police and prosecutors, McAuliffe (D) said the measures were rushed to a vote in the recent legislative session and would have added unintended burdens to fighting crime. He referred the issues to a committee composed mostly of law enforcement officers and their representatives for further study.The decision put McAuliffe at odds with a rare coalition of privacy hawks, including tea party activists and the American Civil Liberties Union — and it left some scratching their heads about the governor’s motives.
Washington Post


National Stories
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In a major defeat for Gov. Rick Scott, a California judge on Thursday ordered Google to turn over the computer IP addresses for all correspondence to and from the governor’s private Google email account since Jan. 15, 2011, and the accounts of two of his staff members. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Mary E. Arand ruled that the governor’s attempt to quash a request by Tallahassee lawyer Steven R. Andrews to Google to withhold the information was not valid. “The subscriber information and IP addresses will assist Andrews in determining whether a public official created the accounts, which, in turn, could establish that official agency business may have been transacted from those accounts,’’ Arand wrote in a four-page ruling filed on the court’s website.
Miami Herald

The U.S. Supreme Court seems to be in a foul mood. It heard its last arguments of the term on Wednesday, including an exceptionally bitter one in a death penalty case. That same day, it issued a 5-to-4 decision on judicial ethics that generated six overlapping opinions, some of them laced with venom and scorn. The discord may only deepen over the next two months, as the justices exchange draft opinions in what seem certain to be intensely divided decisions on health care and same-sex marriage. The court used to be a more decorous institution. A new computer analysis of about 25,000 Supreme Court opinions from 1791 to 2008 identified three trends that have transformed the court’s tone. The justices’ opinions, the study found, have become longer, easier to understand — and grumpier. The judicial-ethics decision was a good example of all three trends. It was simultaneously sprawling, accessible and testy.
New York Times

Editorials/Columns

An ongoing disagreement between the Daily Press and the state Supreme Court effectively illustrates both the value and limitations of Virginia's Freedom of Information Act. The law provides a legal course of action, by which we could appeal to a district or circuit court to compel compliance. But the quandary of asking a lower court to make demands of the state's highest court is evident. In too many instances, public officials shrug off their FOIA obligations because there are no consequences for doing so. The carrot isn't as effective without the stick.
Daily Press

The Daily Press newspaper in Newport News wanted access to the entire database and filed a Freedom of Information Act request for it. No way, the Supreme Court said in reply. The newspaper would have to get it on a court-by-court search. The newspaper then sought a formal opinion from the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council, the state agency that works to educate Virginia residents and public officials about access to public records. In a lengthy opinion that discusses all possible legal scenarios, the FOIA Council said the state’s database is indeed a public record, subject to FOIA. Of course the FOIA Council’s opinion is advisory and could be ignored. Let’s hope the state’s highest court accepts the opinion and grants access to the database.
Free Lance-Star