Bangor Daily News. March 24, 2022.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Editorial: More reminders of the shortcomings of Maine<\/a>\u2019s freedom of access law<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There has been plenty of debate about daylight recently. There should also be some attention paid to sunshine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n March 13-19 was Sunshine Week, an annual celebration started years ago by the American Society of News Editors that recognizes the importance of open government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/react-trigger><\/p>\n \u201cSunshine Week this year occurs amid the harsh reality of what can happen when a government operates behind a curtain of secrecy, as is what\u2019s happening half a world away in Russia,\u201d the Albuquerque Journal editorial board eloquently put it last week. \u201cIts people are not only prevented from seeing the truth of the horrors their country is wreaking on their neighbors, but they are being fed lies and propaganda created by their ruler.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n That observation from across the country was right last week and it remains right this week. Open government should be a year-round pursuit in Maine, across the country and around the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n We don\u2019t need one particular week each year to remind us of the limits to Maine\u2019s Freedom of Access Act (FOAA). That reminder, unfortunately, happens on a much more regular basis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It happened just recently in South Portland, when the city held an invite-only meeting to discuss concerns about homeless individuals being housed at local hotels. The city did so despite a warning from an attorney for the Portland Press Herald that this would violate Maine\u2019s FOAA, the paper reported in February.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It happened in Piscataquis County in early 2021 when county commissioners there adopted in secret a resolution against Gov. Janet Mills\u2019 COVID-19 measures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Maine\u2019s Freedom of access law, at least in theory, provides public access for public proceedings and public information. But as First Amendment lawyer Sigmund Schutz discussed with the Bangor Daily News after the Piscataquis County situation, the law has been weakened by a long list of exceptions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cNow, the right-to-know law is sort of Swiss Cheese, with many dozens of individual exceptions protecting certain discrete types of records, or discrete meeting subjects, from the public\u2019s right to know,\u201d Schutz said at the time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As we\u2019ve seen repeatedly, Maine\u2019s freedom of access law has not stopped public entities from shielding public information or public proceedings. We would argue that it includes insufficient penalties that are not enforced enough.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In January of 2021, the Bangor Daily News filed a lawsuit against the Maine State Police after requesting written disciplinary decisions against state troopers \u2014 which are public under state law \u2014 and eventually received records that had specific misconduct details obscured. The BDN has sued jointly with the Press Herald, and a judge is expected to decide on the case soon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Justin Silverman, the executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, discussed this case in a recent BDN column along with a recent Maine Freedom of Information Coalition survey that asked Maine law enforcement agencies to provide the number of complaints made against their officers since 2016. Nearly half of these agencies failed to provide any information or respond at all, despite FOAA requirements, Silverman said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cUnder the current law, there is little recourse when that data are denied other than to file a lawsuit. Most citizens (and most newsrooms) lack the time and money needed to sue agencies for records they are entitled to under FOAA,\u201d Silverman said. \u201cWhether we grant the state\u2019s public records ombudsman powers to enforce the law or provide statutory incentives such as mandatory attorney fees for prevailing plaintiffs, we need better tools to protect the public\u2019s right to know.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n We agree, better tools are needed to guarantee the public\u2019s right to know here in Maine. That is true this week, it was true during Sunshine Week, and it has been true for quite some time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Boston Globe. March 18, 2022.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Editorial: Reform laws only as good as those who enforce them<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lawmakers have sent the Baker administration a stinging indictment of its criminal justice failures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A recent letter from a legislative leader reads like a stinging indictment of the alleged failures of the Baker administration in the field of criminal justice \u2014 failures to implement recent laws reforming the state\u2019s prisons, crime lab, and policing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n What\u2019s the point of the Legislature passing laws, after all, if those charged with implementing them don\u2019t?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In the most gentlemanly of words, the House Judiciary chair, Michael S. Day, basically stomped his foot and reminded the lame-duck governor that \u201cpolicy disagreements do not give the administration leave to ignore the laws actually on the books.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Day\u2019s nine-page letter outlining these sins of omission is actually addressed to Public Safety Secretary Terrence Reidy, but the Stoneham Democrat posits his own theory about who is calling the shots.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe Legislature is well aware of the governor\u2019s objections to certain aspects of recent landmark laws, both through the amendments he returned to bills as well as through legislation the administration later filed,\u201d Day wrote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Those objections and amendments track with \u201csome disturbing instances of noncompliance,\u201d Day adds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n High on the list \u2014 for some time now \u2014 has been what some lawmakers consider an end-run around the state\u2019s landmark 2018 Criminal Justice Reform Act in the way the Department of Correction has addressed solitary confinement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe (Judiciary) Committee has learned that a number of DOC facilities and Houses of Correction have now instituted housing practices which result in the solitary confinement of inmates for up to 21 \u00bd hours a day, thereby evading the protections, limits, and transparency required for inmates held for just 30 minutes longer.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The law also forbids prisoners with serious mental illness from being subjected to restrictive housing \u2014 defined as 22 hours a day of solitary confinement \u2014 but is silent on that sub-22 minute condition. Day wants an accounting of exactly how many inmates in DOC custody since December 2020 were restricted to in-cell time for more than 20 hours a day but less than 22 hours for more than two consecutive days.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Bridgewater State Hospital, a medium-security facility for men suffering from mental illness who have been ordered incarcerated, civilly committed, or are being held pending trial, was similarly cited by Day as circumventing \u201clegal protections and reporting requirements\u201d in its use of \u201cchemical restraints\u201d \u2014 injections of potent drug cocktails \u2014 to subdue inmates, as documented by the Disability Law Center in its January report. The center has been tasked by both a court settlement and the Legislature with oversight responsibilities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n How did it come to pass, Day wants to know, that Wellpath, a private, for-profit contractor running the facility, administered \u201cat least 370 \u2018Emergency Treatment Orders\u2019 \u201d on inmates without reporting those to DOC?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Other lapses cited in the letter include:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u25aa Failure \u201cto implement the technology needed\u201d that would allow \u201ca statewide uniform cross-tracking system for individuals involved with the criminal justice system\u201d as required by the 2018 law. In fact, regulations for data cross-tracking were promulgated only last December.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u25aa Failure to \u201cadequately mitigate significant mold problems\u201d found throughout Bridgewater State Hospital.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u25aa Failure of the State Police Crime Lab to meet statutorily imposed deadlines for testing rape kits collected prior to enactment of the criminal justice law.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n That testing process is ongoing, albeit at a glacial pace. The Executive Office of Public Safety and the crime lab noted in its most recent quarterly report that the agencies \u201clook forward to the continuing work of testing all eligible untested investigatory\u201d rape kits \u201cin the coming year.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A spokesperson for the EOPSS says the agency is \u201cin the process of developing a robust response\u201d to the Day letter that outlines the agency\u2019s \u201csignificant and continued progress toward the comprehensive implementation of criminal justice reforms.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Day, on behalf of the Judiciary Committee, is also engaging in a back-and-forth with the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, set up under the police reform law, about whether, in fact, a regulation they promulgated actually prohibits choke holds \u2014 as required by the law \u2014 or only seems to prohibit them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n One section of those regulations reads:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cExcept to temporarily gain, regain, or maintain control of an individual and apply restraints, a law enforcement officer shall not intentionally sit, kneel, or stand on an individual\u2019s chest, neck, or spine, and shall not force an individual to lie on their stomach.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n That \u201ctemporarily\u201d might not be the nine minutes it took to kill George Floyd, but it certainly looks like, as Day\u2019s letter calls it, \u201ca clear subversion\u201d of the law\u2019s \u201cprohibition on choke holds.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Enrique Zuniga, executive director for the POST Commission, said the commission is \u201cevaluating\u201d the best way to address Day\u2019s concerns, a process complicated by the fact that the regulations are drafted in conjunction with the Municipal Police Training Committee.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n These fixes shouldn\u2019t wait. When new and trailblazing laws are passed, politicians and advocates too often pat each other on the back and move on. But reforms are only as good as those willing to enforce them and those committed to make them work \u2014 not just on paper but on the ground.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Barre-Montpelier Times-Argus. March 23, 2022.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A report that came out yesterday confirms what we already know: Vermont<\/a> agriculture is critical to the state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cToday, 30 food and agriculture groups released the sixth annual Feeding the Economy report, a historic farm-to-fork economic analysis revealing how these sectors influence the local and broader United States economies. Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, this year\u2019s study highlights how the industries remained resilient to provide Americans with jobs, economic opportunity and safe food,\u201d a news release from the Agency of Agriculture states.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis study sheds light for policymakers on how the food and agriculture sector not only feeds Americans, but also feeds the U.S. economy. The economic disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic has only served to further highlight the critical importance of the food and ag industries,\u201d it reads.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The economic impact study released today shows that 17.77% of the nation\u2019s economy and 29.14% of American jobs are linked to the food and agriculture sectors, either directly or indirectly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Additionally, the analysis broke down the food and agriculture sectors\u2019 economic impact by state and congressional district.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n According to the news release, here are the key findings for Vermont in terms of direct impacts from the state agriculture economy:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Total direct jobs: 50,818.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Total direct wages: $1.94 billion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Total taxes: $1.7 billion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Exports: $135.9 million.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Total food and industry economic impact: $8.45 billion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Here is how that fits into the national scene. Amid the global supply chain and inflation crises, these agriculture sectors also exported $182.91 billion worth of goods, helping the U.S. maintain its position as a leading player in global agriculture. In 2021, these sectors contributed a total of more than $3 trillion to the U.S. economy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Key U.S. findings include:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Total direct jobs: 43,464,211.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Total direct wages: $2.30 trillion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Total taxes: $718.15 billion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Exports: $182.91 billion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014Total food and industry economic impact: $7.43 trillion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n According to the release, to measure the total economic impact of the sectors, the analysis also includes the direct and indirect economic activity surrounding these industries, capturing both upstream and downstream activity. For example, when a farm equipment retailer hires new employees because farmers are buying more tractors, experts consider the new salaries an indirect impact. Similarly, when a retail associate spends her paycheck, an induced economic impact occurs. Together, these have a multiplier effect on the already formidable direct impact of food and agriculture, it states.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe full analysis underscores the importance the food and agriculture industries have on jobs, wages, exports and taxes in our nation. The data provided includes the indirect and induced economy activity surrounding these industries,\u201d the release states.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In all, \u201cthese industries are responsible for roughly one-fifth of the country\u2019s economic activity, directly supporting nearly 21.5 million jobs or more than 14% of U.S. employment. It begins in the rich soil of America\u2019s farms and ranches \u2014 more than 2 million of them \u2014 spread across the heartland and stretching to the coasts,\u201d according to the full report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Meanwhile, millions of food scientists, production workers, logistics experts, truck drivers and engineers work in more than 200,000 food manufacturing, processing and storage facilities to keep our food supply chains resilient and fresh and safe food readily available worldwide, \u2014 the report details.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Feeding the Economy summary reports: \u201cThe journey may conclude at one of the nation\u2019s more than 1 million restaurant locations or make its way from one of more than 100,000 retail grocers to American homes and gatherings where people enjoy the nation\u2019s bounty.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Vermonters should be mindful of the key role we are playing in the ongoing success of the industry we see around us every day, in our stores, at farm stands, at farmers\u2019 markets, and in restaurants and eateries we frequent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n That\u2019s a lot of jobs. And a lot of millions, billions and trillions to consider and be proud of.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n You can visit www.FeedingTheEconomy.com online to read the entire report, and see how Vermont stacks up to other states.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Editorial: State must do more to bring in doctors<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Not that we needed a reminder, but the past two years have driven home just how vital local doctors are to our state\u2019s well-being.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nPolitical Cartoons<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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