Massey Mine Disaster Investigation - Open or Closed to the Public?

The Charleston Gazette would like the federal and state investigations into the Massey Mine Disaster of April 11 to be public hearings. To allow investigative interviews to be conducted in the open, despite the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration's historic insistence that the proceedings be conducted behind closed doors. The question remains, will President Barack Obama's open government initiatives have any influence on the proceedings?

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Investigative Records into Six-Year-Old's Suicide Withheld

The Yamhill County, Oregon, district attorney denied access to records of a police investigation into the death of a 6-year-old girl. The medical examiner concluded the child committed suicide, while the police detectives believed the death was an accident. The district attorney said there was no evidence of abuse or foul play.

The McMinnville Police Department refused to release the investigation documents on grounds that the public records law allows documents to be withheld if releasing them would be a "highly offensive" invasion. District Attorney Brad Berry refused to release the documents on grounds that the public interest fails to outweigh the invasion of personal privacy to the family of Samantha Kuberski.

State Department of Human Services officials say the girl is thought to be the youngest person to ever commit suicide in Oregon.

For details of how the child died, click here.

Georgia State Attorney General's Office Requests Criminal Investigation of Former DOT Treasurer

The Georgia state attorney general's office has asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to conduct a criminal investigation of former DOT treasurer Earl Mahfuz. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained the October 28, 2009 letter seeking the GBI investigation through a Georgia Open Records Act request.

The letter asks the GBI to determine whether Mahfuz instructed DOT employees to stop recording contracts before the end of fiscal year 2008 and whether Mahfuz lied to investigators about the unrecorded contacts, which total $153.4 million.

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Virginians Want Ethics Investigations Made Public

According to a poll of 506 likely voters conducted by the Judy Ford Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University between October 8 - 13, more than 80% of likely voters say an appointed citizens review panel for ethical complaints against legislators should be made public.

Under current law, the five-member panel investigates in private.  If the panel determines a violation has occurred, the compliant is made public.  If the panel dismisses the panel, the complaint remains private unless the legislator chooses to make it public.  The October poll showed less than 10% of the likely voters polled support the current law.

For more information, click here. 

Search Warrants Withheld Despite Legal Authority to the Contrary

Officials in Logan County, Illinois are refusing to produce search warrant applications and supporting affidavits in connection with a murder investigation on the grounds that the investigation is on-going.  However, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan ruled two years ago that search warrant applications and accompanying affidavits are public records - without respect to a pending investigation -- after the warrants are served unless a judge orders the documents sealed.  

Get more information here.

R.I. considers withholding names of police shooters

The Rhode Island legislature proposed a bill that would protect the names of police officers involved in shootings until investigations are completed, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press reported. Opponents argue that keeping this information from the public would erode the community's trust in the police force. The Baltimore Police Department has already stopped releasing the names of police officers who injure or kill people.

The Rhode Island legislature is considering a bill that would block release of the names of police officers who are involved in shootings until after investigations are complete.

The bill to amend the state's public records law, H. 6165, was proposed in response to the fallout from a 2007 police shooting, according to the Providence Journal. Backers of the bill say it allows the officers time to deal with the situation and relieves them of public pressure. But detractors argue that police shootings ought to be treated no differently from other shootings, in which the police routinely release the names of the people responsible.

More here.

Nevada cites FERPA to redact NCAA violations data

Nevada athletics director Cary Groth agrees that FERPA could be updated so that it's clearer. Nevada provided all information requested except data regarding violations in the Columbus Dispatch investigative story regarding NCAA programs. Legal counsel advised the athletic department not to release this information in the midst of the NCAA investigation into a 2007 whistleblower complaint. The Reno-Gazette Journal had also asked for information on the whistleblower complaint through three FOI requests. The university provided the data but cited FERPA and redacted student-athlete names and cited personnel matters exemptions for redacting the names of coaches and administrators.

Nevada athletics director Cary Groth said she was surprised to learn about the wide range of interpretations of FERPA -- the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act -- and that she agreed with the law's writer that it needs to be revamped.

"I was kind of surprised there was such a variance of openness," Groth said, reacting to an investigative story by the Columbus Dispatch in Ohio that reported that many of the 119 FBS (formerly Division I-A) schools use the 1974 federal law improperly in an effort to keep their NCAA troubles secret. "In the article it talks about bringing (the law) in and looking at it again. That would be very helpful, to identify what we can and what we can't release.

"To hide behind the law when you shouldn't, I think that's wrong."

More here.

Mo. Sunshine amendment defeated in House

An amendment that would have clarified how Missouri defines a public official was defeated in the House of Representatives, The Daily News reported. The definition would have included all state elected officials and private individuals when working in a public capacity. Amendments that were affirmed include requirements that all elected officials go through a Sunshine Law course and that some internal police investigation records be opened.

The Missouri House of Representatives narrowly defeated an amendment on Tuesday that would have added clarification to Missouri’s open records law.

The amendment, offered by Rep. Jake Zimmerman, D-Olivette, was defeated by a 81-79 margin that was largely a party line vote. Nine Republicans joined the vote; all but two Democrats voted in favor of the amendment. The amendment would have clarified the definition of a public official to include all state elected officials and private individuals records when working in a public capacity.

Four other amendments were approved by a voice vote.

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Attorney-client privilege wins records case

The Ohio Supreme Court agreed with the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, which argued that investigative reports prepared for public agencies by private lawyers are not public record, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

In a setback for advocates of public records, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled today that reports by private attorneys for government agencies are not public records.

The court's unanimous ruling came in a sordid case out of Toledo. That city's newspaper, The Blade, filed a public-records request for an investigative report by a private attorney for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority that looked into an extramarital relationship between the president of the port authority and a lobbyist who did business with the authority.

The authority's private lawyer prepared a report investigating the matter and turned it over to the authority's board, which fired the wayward official.

More here.

Neb. Supreme Court to decide if investigative report is public

The report in question stems from an investigation Mayor Greg Robinson initiated in order to determine if law enforcement was targeting Hispanic people for arrest. He hired an attorney who then hired two investigators. A report was prepared for the attorney but not for Robinson, The Beatrice (Neb.) Daily Sun reported. Kimball, Neb., officials are arguing that the report shouldn't be public because it is not in their possession.

Kimball officials say the findings of private investigators hired to probe allegations that a police officer was engaging in racial profiling were never meant for public release.

They want the Nebraska Supreme Court to overturn the ruling that made those documents public, including documents they argue were never in the city's possession.

The court will hear arguments in the case Friday.

More here.

Paper warns that Okla. bill may mean innocent citizens are sent to prison

Citizens beware! That's the message the Ada (Okla.) Evening News conveyed in its editorial on a bill that "would allow the chief medical examiner to withhold the public release of autopsy reports." Without access to records, Oklahoma is opening itself up to possible corruption.

Oklahoma House of Representatives Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee Feb. 4 postponed consideration of a bill that would allow the chief medical examiner to withhold the public release of autopsy reports.

The bill was requested by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation following the release of autopsy reports on the unsolved murder of two girls near Weleetka in 2008.

On the surface the bill sounds like a good move, however the committee should throw the bill out and not even consider closing these records to the public. When the government starts closing records to the public it opens the door for corruption. One closed record will soon be followed by another until the public no longer has the right to know the truth.

More here.

Auburn tries to protect workers who stole city equipment

The Post-Standard's FOIA request for the names of Auburn, N.Y., city employees who stole $10,000 of city property has been denied. The city attorney claims the names are considered part of a criminal investigation and therefore are exempt. However, that excuse does not seem to fall within one of the 10 exemptions laid out in the law, the Post-Standard maintains. Perhaps most suspicious is that the city promised the workers anonymity and their jobs in return for the stolen tools and equipment.

The city of Auburn appears to have violated the law in refusing to release the names of workers on the city payroll who stole $10,000 worth of city tools and equipment.

The sticky-fingered workers were promised anonymity and told they could keep their jobs if they returned the stolen property.

But under the state Freedom of Information Law, the public appears to have a clear right to their identities. Courts have ruled that the law trumps any promise of anonymity.

More here.

Blunt may be gone but e-mail saga continues

Independent investigators hired to look into former Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt's e-mail policies realized that they received about 60,000 extra pages of e-mails than media outlets did. Several newspapers had intervened in the lawsuit against Blunt to obtain access to the records. However, the records provided to the media and to the private investigators should have been identical.

The investigation into former Gov. Matt Blunt and whether his office violated open records laws has been rekindled after Attorney General Chris Koster told independent investigators the state would cover their expenses if they are sued.

Those investigators are now alleging that Blunt’s office didn’t turn over the complete record of e-mails to the media outlets that had intervened in the lawsuit.

The more than year-long political and legal struggle over allegations that Blunt’s staff failed to preserve public documents appeared headed to resolution earlier this week when lead investigator Mel Fisher – a former state patrolman – wrote his court-appointed attorney and told him that he would not publish a final report of his findings because the governor’s former chief of staff, Ed Martin, had threatened him with legal action.

More here.

Arguments heard in World Series ticket scandal

A St. Louis circuit judge on Thursday heard arguments for and against opening files from the city Police Department's internal investigation into officers' misuse of 2006 World Series tickets seized from scalpers.

Activist John Chasnoff filed a Sunshine Law suit in 2007 to get access to the investigative files; the Police Department has argued that the files should remain closed.

Earlier this month, Judge Philip Heagney ordered the department to provide Chasnoff with the initial complaint that sparked the investigation, saying it was clearly a public record under Missouri laws. After Thursday's hearing, Heagney said he did not know when he would issue a ruling on the investigative files. Both sides said they would appeal any decision against them.

More here.

Suit In Illinois Seeks Access to Investgatory Records

An age-old tactic: close the investigation, then magically re-open it when someone asks for the records...

The Illinois State Police should release records of its investigations into claims that political interference undermined state probes of two pharmacies, the Chicago Tribune said in a lawsuit filed Monday.

State police officials said in October that the investigations were closed without prosecution, which means the files should be publicly available under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, the newspaper contends.

But in November -- after the Tribune asked for the files -- state police officials announced the investigations had been reopened and they refused to turn over the records, according to the suit filed in Sangamon County Circuit Court.

More here.