Transparency News, 7/14/21
Wednesday
July 14, 2021
July 14, 2021
state & local news stories
After an unruly meeting involving shouts and heckling from residents, the Pittsylvania County School Board voted to reject the state’s policy on transgender students. The Rev. Bobby Brumfield said the transgender policy overrides the will of parents and puts children’s privacy and safety at risk. Following Brumfield’s speech and those of others opposing the state’s policy, citizens erupted into cheers and gave standing ovations. The school board’s chairman could not control the crowd as speakers openly defied the 3-minute time limit on each speaker. Crowd members heckled the board and spoke out of order, with Burton repeatedly threatening to have some members escorted from the building by a deputy.
Danville Register & Bee
Fairfax County supervisors on July 13 were slated to amend the board’s meeting policy, in accordance with a new state law, to allow members to participate remotely either for personal reasons or to take care of ailing family members. A new state law that took effect July 1 authorizes public bodies to permit members to participate remotely if a family member’s temporary or permanent disability or other medical condition prevents them from attending, or they must provide care to those family members. Remote participants need not provide independent verification regarding family members’ medical status.
Sun Gazette
Norfolk Police Chief Larry Boone was expected to update city council Tuesday night on efforts to be more transparent with how the police department shares information with the public. The city council is also expected to vote on a proposal that would move the deadline for people to sign up to speak at council meetings.
WAVY
A professor who represented a Louisiana family in a civil lawsuit against the Baton Rouge Police Department has filed a federal lawsuit against the city, alleging that it retaliated against him for releasing police body-camera footage to the media. University of Virginia law professor Thomas Frampton filed the complaint in the Middle District of Louisiana last month. The complaint noted the city petitioned a Baton Rouge juvenile court to hold Frampton in contempt for releasing video depicting how officers strip-searched 23-year-old Clarence Green and his under-age brother after a traffic stop. The city’s action amounts to retaliation against Frampton, who won a $35,000 settlement for the Green family, according to the complaint. And the released video had already been entered as a public exhibit in a court record, the lawsuit states. Frampton has also filed a motion in state court citing a Louisiana law that bars SLAPP actions (strategic lawsuits against public participation). The state’s anti-SLAPP law is typically used by those who feel they have been attacked for exercising their free-speech rights.
Louisiana Record
The State Police’s Data Analysis and Reporting Team (DART) debuted a new section to its Open Data Portal which will collect and display information about traffic stops made by law enforcement agencies all over the state of Virginia. “VSP opted to publicly post this information on behalf of all agencies required to collect to meet the legislative mandates given in § 15.2-1609.10 and § 15.2-1722.1. This effort allows for the public to see the data in one location and it eases the burden on agencies who do not have a website or means to update on a routine basis,” said Keon Turner, manager of the DART. The sections of the Virginia State Code mentioned by Turner are those regarding the Prohibited Practices and Data Collection which was recently updated by the General Assembly through the Community Policing Act of 2020 which became effective this month. The act mandates that information of traffic stops be collected from participating law enforcement agencies and be displayed for public viewing.
Fairfax County Times
Concerns over the Southampton County School Board’s lack of compliance with public input led George Collins, of Newsoms, to create a petition to change the method of selecting the school board. The question on his petition of qualified voters for referendum is as follows: “Shall the method of selecting the school board be changed from appointment by the school board selection commission to direct election by the voters?” Collins cited a more recent example that prompted him to consider a change, noting that there was a school board meeting right before the 2020-21 school year was going to start, and most every district allowed public comments. "They had a meeting, they discussed it, and they voted. That was it. They didn’t ask for any input from the public other than a survey. They sent out a survey to the parents. That was about it.”
The Tidewater News
Danville Register & Bee
Fairfax County supervisors on July 13 were slated to amend the board’s meeting policy, in accordance with a new state law, to allow members to participate remotely either for personal reasons or to take care of ailing family members. A new state law that took effect July 1 authorizes public bodies to permit members to participate remotely if a family member’s temporary or permanent disability or other medical condition prevents them from attending, or they must provide care to those family members. Remote participants need not provide independent verification regarding family members’ medical status.
Sun Gazette
Norfolk Police Chief Larry Boone was expected to update city council Tuesday night on efforts to be more transparent with how the police department shares information with the public. The city council is also expected to vote on a proposal that would move the deadline for people to sign up to speak at council meetings.
WAVY
A professor who represented a Louisiana family in a civil lawsuit against the Baton Rouge Police Department has filed a federal lawsuit against the city, alleging that it retaliated against him for releasing police body-camera footage to the media. University of Virginia law professor Thomas Frampton filed the complaint in the Middle District of Louisiana last month. The complaint noted the city petitioned a Baton Rouge juvenile court to hold Frampton in contempt for releasing video depicting how officers strip-searched 23-year-old Clarence Green and his under-age brother after a traffic stop. The city’s action amounts to retaliation against Frampton, who won a $35,000 settlement for the Green family, according to the complaint. And the released video had already been entered as a public exhibit in a court record, the lawsuit states. Frampton has also filed a motion in state court citing a Louisiana law that bars SLAPP actions (strategic lawsuits against public participation). The state’s anti-SLAPP law is typically used by those who feel they have been attacked for exercising their free-speech rights.
Louisiana Record
The State Police’s Data Analysis and Reporting Team (DART) debuted a new section to its Open Data Portal which will collect and display information about traffic stops made by law enforcement agencies all over the state of Virginia. “VSP opted to publicly post this information on behalf of all agencies required to collect to meet the legislative mandates given in § 15.2-1609.10 and § 15.2-1722.1. This effort allows for the public to see the data in one location and it eases the burden on agencies who do not have a website or means to update on a routine basis,” said Keon Turner, manager of the DART. The sections of the Virginia State Code mentioned by Turner are those regarding the Prohibited Practices and Data Collection which was recently updated by the General Assembly through the Community Policing Act of 2020 which became effective this month. The act mandates that information of traffic stops be collected from participating law enforcement agencies and be displayed for public viewing.
Fairfax County Times
Concerns over the Southampton County School Board’s lack of compliance with public input led George Collins, of Newsoms, to create a petition to change the method of selecting the school board. The question on his petition of qualified voters for referendum is as follows: “Shall the method of selecting the school board be changed from appointment by the school board selection commission to direct election by the voters?” Collins cited a more recent example that prompted him to consider a change, noting that there was a school board meeting right before the 2020-21 school year was going to start, and most every district allowed public comments. "They had a meeting, they discussed it, and they voted. That was it. They didn’t ask for any input from the public other than a survey. They sent out a survey to the parents. That was about it.”
The Tidewater News
stories from around the country
State constitutional rights guaranteeing access to information can’t hurt, and may help, when judges balance the interests of disclosure and privacy. But there’s little evidence that a constitutional right to access produces better results directly for requesters. That’s, in part, because many variables influence the outcome of a request, particularly the state’s political culture. Those are some conclusions of University of Florida’s Levin College of Law students Jessica Terkovich and Aryeh Frank, in their article “Constitutionalizing Access: How Courts Weigh State Constitutional Claims in Open Government Litigation,” published in the June 2021 edition of The Journal of Civic Information.
NFOIC
A prominent purveyor of election conspiracy theories may face additional punishment from a federal judge in Michigan after he shared a video recording of a portion of a court hearing on sanctions related to a debunked election fraud lawsuit. Lin Wood, an attorney who has vehemently argued fraud cost former President Donald Trump the 2020 election, was one of several attorneys summoned to a hearing Monday by U.S. District Judge Linda Parker. Sidney Powell and other Trump-supporting attorneys filed lawsuits in Michigan and elsewhere that relied on conspiracies and lies to allege election misconduct. While Parker previously dismissed the underlying lawsuit, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel and the city of Detroit are pursuing legal action against all of the attorneys involved in bringing the lawsuit. In accordance with local court rules, all participants and viewers of the virtual proceeding were not allowed to digitally record any of the six-hour hearing. However, Wood appeared to post a recording of Powell speaking during the hearing to Telegram, a social media platform where Wood has more than 840,000 subscribers.
USA Today
NFOIC
A prominent purveyor of election conspiracy theories may face additional punishment from a federal judge in Michigan after he shared a video recording of a portion of a court hearing on sanctions related to a debunked election fraud lawsuit. Lin Wood, an attorney who has vehemently argued fraud cost former President Donald Trump the 2020 election, was one of several attorneys summoned to a hearing Monday by U.S. District Judge Linda Parker. Sidney Powell and other Trump-supporting attorneys filed lawsuits in Michigan and elsewhere that relied on conspiracies and lies to allege election misconduct. While Parker previously dismissed the underlying lawsuit, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel and the city of Detroit are pursuing legal action against all of the attorneys involved in bringing the lawsuit. In accordance with local court rules, all participants and viewers of the virtual proceeding were not allowed to digitally record any of the six-hour hearing. However, Wood appeared to post a recording of Powell speaking during the hearing to Telegram, a social media platform where Wood has more than 840,000 subscribers.
USA Today
editorials & opinion
Packed meetings are to be celebrated. They're our chance as Americans to gather and voice our opinions on the issues that matter to us. Monday we saw two such meetings here — one in Harrisonburg, where the public gathered at a Rockingham County School Board meeting to discuss the transgender bathroom policy it must implement as a result of legislation from Richmond, and another in Dayton, where the Town Council had a proposed yard sale ordinance on its agenda. Keeping our composure during the most divisive times is just one of the many challenges with ample rewards we must rise to as Americans.
Daily News Record
Daily News Record
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