Leroy Schad molested an 11 year old boy. Now District Judge Ron Svaty has sentenced him to five years of probation and house arrest, and ordered him to prominently post signs declaring his sex offender status Schad said the loneliness … Continued
Government bureacracies implement a standard set of dodges to avoid the accountability that comes from disclosure. In its dealings with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), The Advocate newspaper has been the victim of two of the most common ploys to … Continued
Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck said he would not name the lone pharmaceutical chemical found in the city’s drinking water. Once again a “people’s servant” concludes that he knows what’s best for you. The Open Records Project remembers similar arguments against … Continued
The Texas Department of Public Safety plans to update its online sex offender registry this spring to let people know where offenders work or go to school. https://records.txdps.state.tx.us/DPS_WEB/Sor/index.aspx Anyone can go to the state’s site to look up a person … Continued
During the past five years, nearly half of Oregon teachers disciplined for sexual misconduct with a child left their school districts with confidential agreements. The Oregon response is sadly similar to that of the Texas Youth Commission and Catholic Archdiocese … Continued
It’s not scarlet, and it’s not a letter, but a bill before the state Legislature that would require drunk drivers to put florescent yellow license plates on their cars makes quite a few think of author Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale of … Continued
John Washburn learned that the Texas governor’s office automatically destroys virtually all of its emails every seven days. A cynic might conclude that this policy is an attempt by the State to avoid the embarassment of open records disclosure required … Continued
People with felony criminal records would be able to more quickly shield that information from prospective employers under legislation filed today by Gov. Deval Patrick. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino hailed Patrick’s proposals as “much needed.” “Ex-offenders often have little or … Continued
The State of Oregon has placed criminally insane sex offenders in a residence at 177 N. 29th Ave., Cornelius. The program run by Luke-Dorf, a nonprofit Tigard-based mental-health provider, handles only sex offenders of the class “guilty except for insanity.” … Continued
In one of his last decisions of the year on Monday, December 31, 2007, President Bush signed into law the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reform bill (S. 2488). For the first time, there will be a penalty for agencies … Continued