Transparency News 9/14/17

Thursday, September 14, 2017



State and Local Stories

VCOG held its 3rd webinar at Tidewater Community College yesterday. Megan Rhyne gave an hour-long presentation on FOIA’s records provisions to the 320 people who registered, followed by Glenn Smith’s hour-long presentation on records management. Glenn is a records analyst for the Library of Virginia.

Franklin County sheriff’s deputies soon will be using body cameras on the job. County supervisors recently approved $53,000 in funding to provide cameras to all deputies. Maj. Mike Bowman said the body cameras will benefit both deputies and the community. He said the cameras will ensure that situations are handled properly when deputies arrive at a scene or interact with people at a traffic stop. But while civil rights proponents and others advocate the devices, they aren’t necessarily guarantees of public accountability, said Frank LoMonte, director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information in Gainesville, Florida. In many localities, he said, it can be difficult for people to obtain body camera video from a police department. Frequently, police cite the video potentially interfering with investigations, a scenario specifically cited in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The state’s open government law allows police to withhold records or other information that could jeopardize an investigation, a legitimate concern, LoMonte said. But it also can be a convenient excuse for declining to release a video, he said. “Judges are very reluctant to second-guess a police department,” LoMonte said. Because of that, it can be difficult to obtain footage even when taking the department to court. “It can be a pretty big loophole.”
The Franklin News-Post

Judge Kurt Pomrenke was found guilty of contempt Wednesday for violating a 2015 order regarding evidence from his wife’s corruption trial. In U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Judge James P. Jones said Pomrenke, a Bristol, Virginia, juvenile and domestic relations court judge, acted willfully when he shared details of prosecution evidence last spring with the Virginia Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission. Jones said with Pomrenke's level of maturity and experience, he should have known it was wrong to send the email.
Herald Courier



National Stories
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After President Donald Trump launched a cruise missile strike against Syria in April, his administration struggled to justify the legal basis for the attack. For months, a watchdog group has hounded the Trump administration for its legal reasoning. Under court order, the government has finally produced documents that reveal little, if anything.
The Intercept

The FBI revealed Wednesday that it used grand jury subpoenas more broadly than previously known in the course of the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email account and server. A top FBI official disclosed in a court filing that grand jury subpoenas were used to try to obtain records not only from Clinton’s account but also from accounts belonging to people she was in contact with.
Politico