Journalists Do The Vital Work The Public Needs To Keep Informed -- Commentary

Virginia Mercury

It’s no surprise the General Assembly evinces a certain contempt for journalists. After all, we expose legislators’ shortcomings, hypocrisies and pettiness. Lawmakers don’t have to make my job any easier – and it’s rare when they do.

Why those folks hold such disdain for Virginia’s residents, though, is puzzling. Because when legislators stick it to members of the Fourth Estate, they’re targeting everyone else, too. Citizens often learn of governmental problems and misdeeds through the work of reporters.

Which brings me to the assembly’s latest anti-transparency move. It essentially reversed an open-government law covering police records, one that had been on the books less than a year. Falsehoods and misinformation – perhaps intentional – clouded the debate, leading to the final vote this past weekend.

Let me back up:

In 2021, state legislators approved a bill that required law enforcement agencies to provide closed investigative files under the state’s Freedom of Information Act. The passage had followed some study by the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council. The Innocence Project had noted most states and federal officials opened those records to the public, with a few exceptions.

Even some families of crime victims – though certainly not all – favored the bill. Jason Nixon’s wife was killed in the mass shooting at the Virginia Beach municipal center in 2019. Nixon fought for the 2021 law as a way to demand more accountability from local officials.

This is important because local police, sheriff’s departments and other law enforcement agencies in the commonwealth almost always deny access to information when it’s “discretionary.” They rarely turn over more than what’s mandated by law.

The default response is usually: No, we’re not releasing anything more. We don’t have to. Nor are we going to determine whether disclosure might jeopardize cases. Or explain why we think this piece of information is so valuable we must withhold it.

As someone who’s worked at newspapers in other states, I can tell you this is an overly secretive stance. It fails to alert the public about details that won’t hinder investigations, but might inform people of the nature of what’s going on in their neighborhoods.

The 2021 law had protections for crime victims and their families, too. Sensitive photos of victims couldn’t be released, for example.

Yet both chambers decided this year to undo the 2021 legislation, which had been enacted after the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The law was signed by then-Gov. Ralph Northam, at a time when Democrats controlled both chambers. It was designed for the public to keep an eye on what police agencies were doing, and prevent them from forever closing files in which prosecution had ended.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch pointed out the misinformation that had accompanied this year’s debate, and that “several lawmakers acknowledged during the process that they misunderstood” the state’s FOIA. Nor did any proponent of the new bill offer any example of sensitive records being released.

It was a reversal in search of a problem.

Among the detractors of the 2021 law was Sen. Richard Stuart, R-King George. He sits on the Freedom of Information Advisory Council, along with other legislators and citizens. With open-government friends like Stuart, who needs enemies?

Nor did legislators undergo the sober, detailed look the advisory council previously undertook. This time, a few legislators received complaints from victims’ families and police agencies. Several law enforcement organizations supported the reversal; they got their wish.

I know relatives of crime victims are sensitive about anything published or aired about their loved ones. It’s not fair, however, to elevate the emotions of the few against the broader concern by all Virginians to have proper oversight and scrutiny of police agencies.

The stance legislators took is also glaringly paternalistic. They’re suggesting the millions of Virginians who live here aren’t smart or sophisticated enough to determine whether the 2021 law had gone too far in the few months it was in effect, and whether gratuitous information was being published.

Six Senate Democrats voted for this year’s bill, basically reversing their position from last year. I sought interviews from a few of them, but only Dave Marsden, of Fairfax County, responded.

Marsden said Tuesday the legislation “would maintain privacy” for victims and their families. He noted the press still had access to closed cases by seeking them out from those relatives – though that’s often a tough hurdle to clear.

He acknowledged, however, that he knew of no abuses under the existing law.

The senator said he’d supported many police reform bills since 2020 that tilted toward citizens’ rights. “I’m just a little concerned about the messaging being sent to police agencies,” Marsden noted.

That suggests Marsden, who plans to run for re-election next year, is cognizant of how his votes could play with law enforcement groups. Perhaps other senators do, too.

This isn’t the first time the Assembly chose secrecy over sunshine. In 2017, legislators did something downright bizarre: It blocked law enforcement officials from naming juveniles who die in crimes, unless the family gives consent.

It was a strange, Luddite-like decision in an age of smartphones, social media and videos. Neighbors, schools and others could find out the identifications – but officers, don’t tell the press!

The latest development in Richmond gives police and prosecutors the secrecy they want. Grieving families sensitive to any reports about the slayings of loved ones will, too. Even though they already had protections.

Millions of other Virginians? You’re left in the dark.

This story was originally published by the Virginia Mercury. For more stories from the Virginia Mercury, visit Virginia Mercury.com.