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Judge Slams Tacoma for Not Releasing Stingray Records

posted by chromas on Monday July 02 2018, @08:48PM   Printer-friendly
from the css dept.

takyon writes:

Judge slams Tacoma for not releasing stingray records

A judge in Washington state has excoriated the Tacoma Police Department for withholding public records pertaining to its use of cell-site simulators, also known as stingrays. Back in 2016, the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington state sued the TPD on behalf of four community leaders, arguing that the department has not adequately responded to their public records requests concerning the use of stingrays, which included asking for a blank form authorizing its use.

"The [Public Records Act] establishes a positive duty to disclose public records unless they fall within specific exemptions," Judge G. Helen Whitener wrote in her Monday opinion. "This mandates that the City, upon receiving a request for documents, must first do an adequate search and then must produce the documents requested if there is not an exemption. The PRA does not require the City to analyze the reasons why the document is requested or to determine the relevance of the documents requested even if they are blank forms. The blank form taken in context of the other forms may have meaning to the requestor, and it is not for the City to analyze its relevance. To adopt the City's interpretation of the PRA would defeat the broad mandate of the PRA to allow access to public records not covered by and exemption."

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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 06 2018, @12:07PM (2 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 06 2018, @12:07PM (#703450) Journal

    Have you noticed I was doing my best to be civil with you?

    If you really are interested in being civil, you can do better than your best.

    Perhaps I don't want one, and civility begins here.

    Psychology is a weird thing. You might think you don't want conflict, revolution, or whatnot. Yet what do we see of SN subjects that engages you? Again and again, this is where you gravitate. And how much do you think about avoiding such conflict and understanding the issues that drive those conflicts?

    The issues that divide us are irreconcilable differences. I will never consent to concentration camps for children, where they are psychologically tortured, and apparently the other side's response is a gleeful "Womp Womp!" to the extreme pain of mothers and children. That's just one issue, and I would like to say the rest are identity politics bullshit with the "Left" that can be dismissed as crazy, but they are not.

    The oxygen for these movements could have been removed long ago with sensible immigration and economic policy. Not all differences need to be reconciled. But when differences are intentionally cultivated, you get permanent conflict.

    Similarly, any sort of understanding would have helped. Too often, any sort of understanding of other peoples' agendas or interests is considered agreement with it. This sort of marginalizing behavior does more to create division than the irreconcilable differences do. Too often, I point out some issue that the other side (be it white nationalists, Islamicists, or other unpopular groups) happens to be concerned about, and a post starts with "So what you think is" and then devolves into a complete straw man.

    The violence in Portland this weekend was only the beginning

    Which, let us note, is not much [foxnews.com] of a beginning. Four people got arrested and there were multiple assaults. How does that compare to a routine sports game?

  • (Score: 2) by edIII on Friday July 06 2018, @07:27PM (1 child)

    by edIII (791) on Friday July 06 2018, @07:27PM (#703618)

    I will endeavour to do better, and I appreciate your comments.

    --
    Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.