FOIA in the news

STAUNTON, VIRGINIA – In a profound and precedent-setting victory for journalistic integrity and the principle of open governance, Breaking Through Media, LLC, together with journalist Samuel Joseph Orlando, triumphed in their tenacious legal confrontation against Augusta County and its Board of Supervisors member, Dr. Scott Seaton. The case, a litmus test for the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)'s efficacy, culminated in a judicial rebuke that underscored the county's cavalier attitude towards the law and the need for a stringent adherence to transparency.

Read Full Story Here:  https://original.newsbreak.com/@breaking-through-news-1615604/3301958546524-breaking-through-media-prevails-in-court-judge-rules-augusta-county-must-produce-recording

Augusta County leaders stumbled and bumbled their way into being on the wrong side of a circuit court order to turn over a copy of the recording of a March 20 Board of Supervisors closed meeting that a judge ruled last week was held illegally.

The closed meeting had been called, in part, to discuss the surprise resignation of then-South River Supervisor Steven Morelli, who was quietly, at the time, under fire for reported sexual-harassment allegations involving at least two county employees.

That fact, and the existence of the recording of the March 20 meeting, which was made by Wayne District Supervisor Scott Seaton, are both public knowledge directly as a result of the actions of the Augusta County 6, the six members of the Board of Supervisors who have tried to use the machinery of local government to try to punish Seaton for his oppositional political stances.

Read the full story here:  https://augustafreepress.com/news/analysis-augusta-county-6-brought-legal-scrutiny-on-itself-with-series-of-missteps/

AUGUSTA COUNTY — The controversial closed session recording of the Augusta County Board of Supervisors “will be ordered” to be provided to those asking for it, wrote Judge Thomas Wilson IV.

On Dec. 21, the Augusta County Circuit Court heard evidence in two civil cases filed against Augusta County concerning two FOIA requests. The first was Breaking Through Media LLC and Samuel Orlando; the second an appeal of a previously rejected case from Chris Graham of Augusta Free Press. Both requested the March 20, closed session recording of the Augusta County Board of Supervisors, and Breaking Through Media asked for recordings of over a dozen other closed sessions.

Read the full story:  https://www.newsbreak.com/news/3302868704635-augusta-supervisors-must-provide-closed-session-recordings

The Supreme Court of Virginia handed down two decisions Thursday in support of greater transparency in public access to both court hearings and information on government employees. 

Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, called the dual transparency rulings, which were unanimous and penned by two different judges, surprising.

“We haven’t seen that kind of strength in a while,” she said.  

The first decision combined two cases — Daily Press v. Commonwealth of Virginia and City of Newport News v. Commonwealth of Virginia — that dealt with public access to a bail hearing for a Newport News police officer who shot a man, as well as to sealed documents containing city emails related to the incident. 

Read the full story: https://www.virginiamercury.com/2022/10/23/virginia-supreme-court-upholds-open-courts-narrows-foia-personnel-exemption/