Transparency News 7/15/14
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
State and Local Stories
Governing
On America’s 190th birthday in 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the “Freedom of Information Act,” a law he described as crucial to the democratic principles of our country. And FOIA, as it now known, has since become a cornerstone of government openness and individual rights, and was most recently renewed in 2014. The idea is simple: provide American citizens with information and space to complain regarding the country’s most pressing issues: national security, policy making and ketchup packets. Yes, ketchup packets. A report from the collaborative investigative news site MuckRock has recently exposed just how some Americans are using FOIA: to complain to the CIA about its own employee cafeterias.
CNN
No, the United States isn't trying to build a military force of centenarians. It just seems that way after the Selective Service System mistakenly sent notices to more than 14,000 Pennsylvania men born between 1893 and 1897, ordering them to register for the nation's military draft and warning that failure to do so is "punishable by a fine and imprisonment." The agency realized the error when it began receiving calls from bewildered relatives last week.
Progress-Index
State Senator Chris McDaniel, who narrowly lost a Republican primary runoff to United States Senator Thad Cochran, the incumbent, asked the Mississippi Supreme Court on Monday for an emergency order forcing the Harrison County circuit clerk, Gayle Parker, to let him see original copies of poll books. Mr. McDaniel is trying to prove that some people who voted in the June 24 runoff also voted in the June 3 Democratic primary, which would be illegal.
New York Times
Last week the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that while NBCUniversal reporters did not violate anyone’s Fourth Amendment rights creating the 2008 Dateline segment titled “Tricks of the Trade,” a lower court will have to review the originally dismissed defamation claims made by an insurance broker featured in the piece. Tyrone M. Clark and his company, Brokers’ Choice of America, initially sued NBC over video clips recorded with a hidden camera by Dateline crew members during an insurance brokers’ seminar in Colorado located on BCA property.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Major U.S. web companies urged regulators to restrict the ability of Internet providers including mobile carriers to strike deals for faster delivery of some web traffic and planned a publicity campaign about the government’s proposal. The Internet Association, which represents three dozen web companies such as Google Inc, Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc, made their case in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission, which plans to establish new so-called “net neutrality” rules.
Reuters
Press groups, prominent journalists and administration critics have all accused President Barack Obama of failing to live up to his commitment to have the "most transparent administration in history." To some, that pledge is now a punch line. But the commitment endures, newly appointed White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in an interview on CNN's "Reliable Sources" on Sunday. Earnest, who was a deputy press secretary before his promotion in June, cited "a number of steps that we've taken to give people greater insight into what's happening at the White House."
CNN
Daily Press
The faux outrage is insulting. Some members of both parties are shocked - shocked! - that political machinations took place when state Sen. Phillip Puckett resigned from the General Assembly. The move by the Russell County Democrat threw control of the Senate to the GOP, and it ended the legislative logjam over Medicaid expansion. Gov. Terry McAuliffe had been holding the budget hostage, trying to get health care coverage for as many as 400,000 poor Virginians. I'm never surprised when politicians act as their name implies - making deals, angling for advantage, kneecapping their opponents.
Roger Chesley, Virginian-Pilot
State and Local Stories
A federal judge has granted former Gov. Bob McDonnell’s request for 20 additional blank subpoenas, to keep the names of certain witnesses from the prosecution, the media and the public, for now. The order by Judge James R. Spencer increases to 30 the number of blank subpoenas at the former governor’s disposal.
Times-Dispatch
Henrico County School Board members debated how publicly they should disagree with each other at training session and retreat in Charlottesville Monday. As a superintendent, it was easiest to follow the School Board’s directions when the board spoke “with one voice,” superintendent-turned-education-consultant Stanley J. Durtan Jr. told the Henrico board members. “I don’t think our constituents expect us to be one voice on anything,” Fairfield District board member Lamont Bagby replied. The superintendent should absolutely follow the wishes of the majority of the board in any dispute, but the board members should have a robust discussion with differing points of view, Bagby said. Durtan said he didn’t want to imply there shouldn’t be debate, but that debate should end once a decision is made.
Times-Dispatch
National Stories
The Government Accountability Office has been tracking the problem of managing electronic records for years, issuing several reports detailing serious problems with email management. So in 2012, the Obama administration issued a directive for all federal agencies to manage their email electronically by 2016. The policy, called “Capstone," will allow agencies to automatically categorize email based on the position of the employee, thereby capturing the emails that are “likely to create or receive permanently valuable federal records.” Of course, the feds aren’t the only government agencies to struggle with how to manage email. States, counties and cities have had their share of problems with emails that have gone missing, been accidentally deleted or left on hard drives that crashed. One of the biggest issues has to do with which emails to save externally and which can be deleted. Does government need to save every email generated by its employees? And for how long?Governing
On America’s 190th birthday in 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the “Freedom of Information Act,” a law he described as crucial to the democratic principles of our country. And FOIA, as it now known, has since become a cornerstone of government openness and individual rights, and was most recently renewed in 2014. The idea is simple: provide American citizens with information and space to complain regarding the country’s most pressing issues: national security, policy making and ketchup packets. Yes, ketchup packets. A report from the collaborative investigative news site MuckRock has recently exposed just how some Americans are using FOIA: to complain to the CIA about its own employee cafeterias.
CNN
No, the United States isn't trying to build a military force of centenarians. It just seems that way after the Selective Service System mistakenly sent notices to more than 14,000 Pennsylvania men born between 1893 and 1897, ordering them to register for the nation's military draft and warning that failure to do so is "punishable by a fine and imprisonment." The agency realized the error when it began receiving calls from bewildered relatives last week.
Progress-Index
State Senator Chris McDaniel, who narrowly lost a Republican primary runoff to United States Senator Thad Cochran, the incumbent, asked the Mississippi Supreme Court on Monday for an emergency order forcing the Harrison County circuit clerk, Gayle Parker, to let him see original copies of poll books. Mr. McDaniel is trying to prove that some people who voted in the June 24 runoff also voted in the June 3 Democratic primary, which would be illegal.
New York Times
Last week the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that while NBCUniversal reporters did not violate anyone’s Fourth Amendment rights creating the 2008 Dateline segment titled “Tricks of the Trade,” a lower court will have to review the originally dismissed defamation claims made by an insurance broker featured in the piece. Tyrone M. Clark and his company, Brokers’ Choice of America, initially sued NBC over video clips recorded with a hidden camera by Dateline crew members during an insurance brokers’ seminar in Colorado located on BCA property.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Major U.S. web companies urged regulators to restrict the ability of Internet providers including mobile carriers to strike deals for faster delivery of some web traffic and planned a publicity campaign about the government’s proposal. The Internet Association, which represents three dozen web companies such as Google Inc, Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc, made their case in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission, which plans to establish new so-called “net neutrality” rules.
Reuters
Press groups, prominent journalists and administration critics have all accused President Barack Obama of failing to live up to his commitment to have the "most transparent administration in history." To some, that pledge is now a punch line. But the commitment endures, newly appointed White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in an interview on CNN's "Reliable Sources" on Sunday. Earnest, who was a deputy press secretary before his promotion in June, cited "a number of steps that we've taken to give people greater insight into what's happening at the White House."
CNN
Editorials/Columns
As journalists, we are understandably obsessive about the First Amendment. The rights it protects are the lifeblood of our industry and enable media outlets like the Daily Press to operate independently of government suppression or intervention. We therefore find it deeply alarming to see public understanding of the First Amendment plummet to all-time lows, as a recent report indicates. That worrisome trend should facilitate a groundswell of support for better civics education, since only those well versed in the value in these rights will count themselves among its defenders.Daily Press
The faux outrage is insulting. Some members of both parties are shocked - shocked! - that political machinations took place when state Sen. Phillip Puckett resigned from the General Assembly. The move by the Russell County Democrat threw control of the Senate to the GOP, and it ended the legislative logjam over Medicaid expansion. Gov. Terry McAuliffe had been holding the budget hostage, trying to get health care coverage for as many as 400,000 poor Virginians. I'm never surprised when politicians act as their name implies - making deals, angling for advantage, kneecapping their opponents.
Roger Chesley, Virginian-Pilot
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