Transparency News 8/16/17

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

State and Local Stories

A judge on Tuesday ruled in favor of a man who sued the Abingdon Town Council, three council members and the town attorney for violating the Freedom of Information Act. Judge Danny Bird did not impose civil penalties on Mayor Cathy Lowe, Vice Mayor Rick Humphreys, council member Bob Howard and town attorney Deb Icenhour. The lawsuit alleged that a letter sent by Icenhour on behalf of the three council members to a circuit court judge asking for guidance on another council member, Cindy Patterson, violated public meetings law because it did not happen in the public sphere. Bird ruled that that letter must be declared as not an authorized act of the Town Council. The council members must also agree not to violate FOIA in the future.
Herald Courier

National Stories
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A coalition of media and advocacy groups that sued former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s administration over alleged violations of the state’s public records law has now settled the claim with the state after a two-year court battle. The original lawsuit was filed in July 2015 by a group that included Capitol Broadcasting Co., the parent company of WRAL News. It accused the McCrory administration of “regularly and repeatedly” violating North Carolina records laws by delaying the release of records and charging high fees for producing them – a claim McCrory’s office vehemently denied. The state will pay $250,000 in attorneys fees to the coalition, according to the settlement agreement finalized Tuesday. The agreement also lays out a number of promises by the Cooper administration to “continue to comply with the Public Records Act conscientiously and in good faith.”
WRAL

A federal appeals court on Tuesday said the New York Times Co must face a defamation lawsuit by a Louisiana economics professor who said it quoted him out of context by saying he described slavery as “not so bad.” The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived claims by Walter Block, who teaches at Loyola University, over a January 26, 2014, front page article about libertarianism and a potential presidential candidacy of Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who later ran for the White House.
Reuters

On the heels of several important decisions in the New Jersey courts, the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee has advanced long awaited legislation to amend state’s Open Public Records Act. The bill (S1046) aims to improve and modernize the statute, while also boosting transparency. Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) has been calling for reform for several years, but has seen prior attempts stall in committee. “There is no issue that overrides the public’s right to know what we in the Legislature and what our municipalities are doing on their behalf,” Weinberg said prior to the budget committee vote.
Observer