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A&A: Accessing county’s payments to a doctor now under arrest for molestation

FAC November 12, 2011

Q: I am a journalist and victims advocate. I wanted to know about whether it was possible to get records of payments made by all  County agencies–including the District Attorney’s office–to a child psychiatrist. The psychiatrist was arrested for molesting hundreds of boys and was under contract to the courts for four decades. We have reason to believe the DA’s office hired him as well, which would make their prosecution of him a conflict of

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Opinion: WikiLeaks may die out but seminal idea will endure

donal brown November 11, 2011

WikiLeaks seems all the more vulnerable as the founder, Julian Assange, is likely to be extradited from Britain to Sweden on charges of sexual misconduct. But even if WikiLeaks falls, the idea of a transnational organization gathering and disseminating information while evading the grasp of governments, seems likely to survive, writes David Carr in The New York Times. Notwithstanding, Carr says, for various reasons document drops of the scope of the U.S. classified war documents from

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Minnesota TV station loses million dollar libel judgment

donal brown November 11, 2011

A Minnesota jury found that an ABC affiliate station acted with reckless disregard for the truth and awarded a naturopathic healer $1 million in a defamation suit. The suit hung on the testimony of one of the healer’s clients that the healer had advised her to stop taking an anti-anxiety medication. The jury found the client’s statements about the advise were false and since the station did not verify them, it had acted with disregard

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Top judge in Los Angeles juvenile court orders open court for child decency hearings

donal brown November 11, 2011

The presiding judge of the Los Angeles Juvenile Court plans to open court hearings to the public by the end of the month in an attempt to bolster public confidence by improving accountability and transparency. The court deals with child abuse and neglect and foster care placement. Many social workers oppose the plan out of concerns for the privacy and the children. The proceedings would be presumed open unless someone objects or a judge decides

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Sandusky scandal: Reporter says Penn State hides behind weak open records laws

donal brown November 10, 2011

Luke O-Brien, a reporter for Deadspin, says that Penn State refused his requests for e-mails and other documents related to the alleged Jerry Sandusky sex crimes on the grounds that under a special exemption the university is not subject to Pennsylvania’s open records laws. O’Brien argues that since the university accepts $290 million annually from the state, it is ridiculous to exempt it from public records laws, especially in light of the Sandusky scandal. -db

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