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"The failure to give answers to those questions is going to be paid in the currency of public trust.”
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City police plan to begin encrypting all the radio channels they use, ending the public’s ability to listen in. It will go forward if the City Council approves a five-year, $6.2 million plan when they vote May 15 on the budget. In city documents, police said encryption is needed because criminals listen to police communications. It would greatly increase officer safety and help protect citizens, they wrote. But it also could affect media coverage of public safety and undermine the relationship between the press and the police, said Megan Rhyne, executive director of Virginia Coalition for Open Government. Police have been encrypting scanners for a number of years, reacting to a larger trend. Virginia Beach police declined to comment, but in council documents described five situations in which they said the public’s ability to hear police in real time impeded their work.
The Virginian-Pilot
A Texas principal accused of expelling a student who stayed seated during the Pledge of Allegiance and a Utah high school accused of censoring its student newspaper have been bestowed Jefferson Muzzles, tongue-in-cheek awards from a free-speech group. The Charlottesville-based Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression on Sunday announced the seven winners of its Muzzles, given annually to those the group deems the previous year's most egregious offenders of free expression. The group said in a statement that 2017 was a "perilous year" for free speech in America, citing college students' attempts to silence unpopular speakers and what it called the Trump administration's campaign to "vilify and delegitimize the press."
The Daily Progress
One of the items up for auction at the annual Fairfax County Democratic dinner on Sunday was not like the others. Some state lawmakers offered bidders the chance to have lunch with them at a restaurant. Bid money from the silent auction goes to the county party. Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, offered a day with her in Richmond, and more: "The winner will be welcomed by the Senate during the day's floor session, and will receive a tour of the Capitol. The winner will also have the opportunity to attend committee hearings and help out in the senator's busy legislative office - gaining an inside look into the lawmaking process!" according to the posted item up for auction. The Capitol is a public building and the legislative process is public; attending committee meetings and being recognized in the Senate chamber are free of charge. And in a state where a previous governor had to fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to avoid spending time in prison after being convicted of public corruption, lawmakers have been more conscious about appearances of trading donations for access.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
With about a month to go before voters cast ballots in June 12 primary elections, Alan “AJ” Cole needed computer logins. And supplies packed. And a vendor to program voting machinery. But most of all, he needed those logins. Without them, workers at the Hopewell office where voters file absentee ballots and other paperwork couldn’t even access their computers. Hopewell’s longtime registrar had retired. Her deputy didn’t want the job and left last month, setting off a chain of events that led to state and local officials crying foul on the city’s Electoral Board for shoehorning in a replacement who some said was more connected than qualified. With the primaries looming, the Virginia Department of Elections called on Cole to keep Hopewell’s office afloat while the controversy settled. Questions also swirled about whether the Electoral Board violated the state’s Freedom of Information Act. At the end of a closed-door meeting, a replacement was chosen. There was no vote in open session, which is required under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
How did a man forbidden from being alone with children because of his conviction for maiming his own son live with a 2-year-old girl without authorities knowing about it? Or maybe John Tucker Hardee Sr.’s probation officers did know and approved because he was also living with the toddler’s mother, who was his girlfriend of four months. But now that the girl is dead – and Hardee and his girlfriend are in jail charged in her death – state officials won’t say what they knew about Hardee’s living arrangements. They also won’t say what measures, such as unannounced home visits, they took to make sure he wasn’t alone with kids. State law allows the Department of Corrections to release records of Hardee’s supervised probation. But it leaves the decision up to the department, which chose to keep them secret after inquiries from The Virginian-Pilot. The department’s policies prohibit the release of information about adults who are on supervised probation, spokeswoman Lisa Kinney said in an email. When asked to provide that policy, Kinney pointed to the DOC’s webpage regarding the Freedom of Information Act, which says corrections officials “commonly withhold” records of adults on probation, as allowed by law. But that page does not say releasing them is barred altogether. Through Kinney, Department of Corrections Director Harold Clarke declined to talk with The Pilot for this story. Gov. Ralph Northam, who ultimately oversees the department, declined to say whether he agrees with corrections officials’ decision not to release information about Hardee’s supervision, said Ofirah Yheskel, a spokeswoman for the governor. “The failure to give answers to those questions is going to be paid in the currency of public trust,” said Richmond-based civil rights lawyer Andrew Bodoh, who specializes in FOIA law.
The Virginian-Pilot
The Town of Leesburg is denying a Freedom of Information Act request from the Times-Mirror for information related to the March 31 arrest of prominent white nationalist Christopher Cantwell. Cantwell, who is well-known for his role in the deadly Charlottesville protests last August, was arrested for public intoxication and swearing in the 500 block of Market Street in Leesburg. He had been drinking at Bunker's Sports Cafe before police found him intoxicated outside near the restaurant, according to media reports. Leesburg law enforcement did not disclose the arrest as it typically does with similar crimes, and there was no notification to the media about the incident. The Times-Mirror submitted a Freedom of Information Act request related to Cantwell's arrest to the town on May 2. The next day, the town's clerk to council, Eileen Boeing, said the town is withholding five pages related to the arrest because the “matter has not been adjudicated,” even though law enforcement agencies around the country regularly disclose incident reports for minor crimes before they proceed through the legal system. Sam Shenouda, a Leesburg Police spokesman, said Cantwell's arrest was not listed publicly because of a “data entry error.”
Loudoun Times-Mirror
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