Transparency News 6/23/17

Friday, June 23, 2017



State and Local Stories

Circuit court ruling upends long-held practice in FOIA, ruling that members of the Virginia Senate are not individually subject to FOIA.
Megan Rhyne, VCOG Blog

Freedom of speech was truly exercised as each resident used their five minutes to passionately discuss topics including: Rifle hunting, school funding, conflict of interest, fiscal accountability and the proposed purchase of the June Parker Marina (Marina). The Essex Board of Supervisors (BOS) held its monthly meeting Tuesday, June 13; the public hearing session consumed the majority of the two-hour meeting. 
Northern Neck News



National Stories
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A senior security database program officer at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence had at least 14 freelance jobs, performed hundreds of illegal searches and admitted to spending approximately “all day” on Facebook. The findings are contained in a heavily redacted 32-page report compiled in late 2014 by the Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community and made public Wednesday by Buzzfeed journalist Jason Leopold. The document's header says it was approved for release in December, but Leopold, a prolific Freedom of Information Act litigant, said on Twitter he had just acquired it. “These reports are rarely released,” he wrote.
U.S. News & World Report

Two government watchdog groups sued President Donald Trump on Thursday, claiming the Twitter-loving leader of the free world and his staff skirt accountability rules when it comes to preserving presidential communications. In a federal lawsuit filed in Washington, the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Security Archive, an investigative research institute and library, contend Trump and his entire administration blatantly disregard the Presidential Records Act.
Courthouse News Service


Editorials/Columns


OFFICIALS AT THE Hampton Roads Regional Jail long maintained they conducted a thorough review of how Jamycheal Mitchell was cared for while he was incarcerated there. This internal affairs investigation became the stuff of legend because jail leaders repeatedly refused requests to release it. On Wednesday, following more than a year of stonewalling, officials finally provided copies of the supporting documents to The Pilot. That they generally support the jail’s claims speaks to the folly of officials’ silence on this matter — and indicates that new leadership is working to restore public confidence in the facility.
Virginian-Pilot