www.FairfaxCountyPrivacyCouncil.org
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FCPC ALERT #2007-5: House of
Delegates passes unprecedented “arrest and strip search your spouse &
sister” bill!
Originally Published on 12 February 2007
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This
message is intended for members of the Fairfax County Privacy Council, and
anyone else who might be interested in advancing privacy in
Privacy Notice: All communication from the Fairfax Privacy Council is sent
using blind carbon copy ("BCC") format for your security and privacy.
SPECIAL ADMIN NOTE: This may well be the last Alert before the end
of this short 2007 General Assembly session – it is imperative that everyone
take action as soon as possible on the action items below.
ALERT ITEM SUMMARY:
1. House of Delegates passes unprecedented "arrest and strip search your
spouse & sister" bill!
2. Senate FOIA Sub-committee Chairman Houck votes to deny SSN privacy
protections, but support horse racing promotion bill
3. FCPC activist’s suit to be heard by VA Supreme Court on Valentine’s
Day!
4. Federal REAL-ID Act collapsing
5. 2007 FCPC bill tracker up and running
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1. House of Delegates passes unprecedented "arrest and strip search
your sister" bill!
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The House of Delegates passed Delegate Jackson Miller’s (R –
Under Miller’s proposed windfall search law, the police will have 100% discretion to do whatever they want. This is just another brick in the wall, treating misdemeanors like felonies.
Opponents argue that officers shouldn’t be allowed to make arrests and detain people at their discretion for minor misdemeanors. . . . During the hearing on the bill, Delegate Ward Armstrong, D-Martinsville, called it the “biggest policy change this session” to go through the committee. See “Police Arrest Powers Under Fire,” The Richmond Style Weekly, by Amy Biegelsen, 7 February 2007 at http://styleweekly.com/article.asp?idarticle=13807.
Tellingly, the Virginia House of Delegates Courts of Justice Committee had lopsidedly rejected efforts to repeal this statute as recently as 2002 and 2004.
Luckily, now the Virginia Senate will get to look at this bill anew, and hopefully not fall for the misleading arguments made for the bill in the House of Delegates.
For starters, the Senate should recognize that the CURRENT misdemeanor arrest ban does have 4 large exceptions for the police to arrest people they accuse of misdemeanors anyway (i.e., the officer may arrest anyone who appears intoxicated, unwilling to sign the summons or show up in court, unwilling to cease the alleged unlawful conduct, or likely to harm himself or others).
Secondly,
the Senate should take notice that HB 2943 would allow the police 100%
discretion to arrest and strip search (no kidding – and no reason required per
Va. Code § 19.2-59.1 at http://tinyurl.com/2x6bwl)
anyone they accuse of one of thousands of sometimes vague state and
local misdemeanors, including such heinous crimes as forgetting your driver’s
license, losing records of Irish potato handling, or dancing at a restaurant in
Norfolk (see “Could Dancing Really be Illegal?,” Hampton Roads TV,
at http://tinyurl.com/2z3tso).
Finally, the Senate should realize that the motivation to overturn the current
statute has nothing to do with prosecuting misdemeanor crimes – the goal is to
short circuit the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable warrantless searches
by giving the police 100% discretion to custodially arrest anyone so that they
can be strip-searched without a warrant.
And there’s the unfunded taxpayers’ costs of HB 2943 that
has yet to be considered by the General Assembly. Recently Richmond
Sheriff Sheriff C.T. Woody complained that the police are **already** arresting
and jailing too many people. "Thirty to 40 percent of the people in
here don't need to be here," Woody said. Among them, he suggested,
are people arrested for **minor offenses**. See “A new jail
for
The Virginia Chapter of the ACLU opposes HB 2943 – see http://www.acluva.org/legislature/2007/2007GABills.html#CrimJustice
The
The Richmond Libertarian Party opposes HB 2943 – see http://www.richmondliberty.org/mt/2007/02/we_need_to_stop_hb_2943.php
The Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations opposes HB 2943
The Virginia Citizens Defense League opposes HB 2943 – see http://tinyurl.com/2es6ca
The
And you should oppose HB 2943 too!
ACTION ITEM #1: Help derail this police state “strip search your sister” bill by emailing YOUR Senator and instructing him or her to OPPOSE HB 2943 and protect civil liberties by leaving current Virginia law the way it is – which is **felony** charges gets the accused arrested and searched, while misdemeanor charges just get the accused a summons, unless a good reason can be articulated by the officer, i.e., the accused is drunk, refuses to stop the allegedly illegal behavior, refuses to sign the citation, or is a threat to himself or others. Find your Senator’s email info at http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform, or just click on this **easy to use** link at http://tinyurl.com/2es6ca (provided by the VA’s largest pro-gun group, the Virginia Citizens Defense League) to send an email message to your Senator.
ACTION ITEM #2: Blast an email off to the powerful Senate
Courts of Justice Committee which has the power to quash this police-state bill
like a bug.
Sample message:
TO: district08@sov.state.va.us, district35@sov.state.va.us, district16@sov.state.va.us, district13@sov.state.va.us, district03@sov.state.va.us, district32@sov.state.va.us, district18@sov.state.va.us, district21@sov.state.va.us, district20@sov.state.va.us, district36@sov.state.va.us, district06@sov.state.va.us, district14@sov.state.va.us, district37@sov.state.va.us, district26@sov.state.va.us, district04@sov.state.va.us
SUBJECT: Please Oppose HB 2943, the citizen roundup bill!
Dear Chairman Stolle and Members of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee:
Please oppose HB 2943 which would massively expand police arrest powers for any “alleged” misdemeanor (of which we have over a thousand) FOR THE EXPRESS PURPOSE to allow unlimited searches of our spouses, children, and vehicles in violation of our Fourth Amendment freedoms, including strip searches pursuant to Va. Code § 19.2-59.1.
Current Virginia law **already** provides police the flexibility to custodially arrest persons suspected of committing misdemeanors for 4 good reasons as long as the police can articulate why they suspect the individual: (1) is intoxicated; (2) is not likely to show up for their hearing listed on the summons; (3) is refusing to discontinue the allegedly unlawful conduct; and (4) is likely to hurt herself or others. To treat all misdemeanors like felonies and allow police 100% discretion to custodially arrest and search anyone at will goes to far. After all, we have too many misdemeanor crimes in Virginia, including some pretty vague laws at that, including such heinous crimes as forgetting your driver’s license, losing records of Irish potato handling, or dancing at a restaurant in Norfolk (see “Could Dancing Really be Illegal?,” Hampton Roads TV, at http://tinyurl.com/2z3tso).
There are also 3 structural legislative policy reason for you to oppose HB 2943:
1. The bill is aimed at punishing the VA Supreme Court for simply enforcing the current statute as written via the exclusionary rule. To pass HB 2943 is to thumb your noses at the Supreme Court while rewarding police law breaking (i.e., custodially arresting and searching alleged misdemeanants without good cause).
2.
The bill never received a budgetary review in the House of Delegates as
required by law.
3. Because the VA AG is appealing the recent Moore v. Commonwealth decision by the VA Supreme Court to the US Supreme Court, this Honorable Committee should follow its **long standing policy** of not amending statutes under direct litigation.
While the VA AG may think that Moore was wrongly decided, the high courts of South Carolina and New Mexico agree with the Supreme Court of Virginia, and so do I - the Fourth Amendment is important and any statute seeking to get around the Fourth Amendment by allowing to arrest and search everybody all the time is just plain wrong!
Again, I urge you to oppose HB 2943. Please let me know what you are going to do.
Sincerely,
YOUR
NAME
YOUR ADDRESS
ACTION ITEM #3: Call Senator Cuccinelli (R- Fairfax
County) at (804) 698-7537 to ask him to “OPPOSE HB 2943 to respect our precious
4th Amendment rights – nothin’s broke, so please don’t try to fix
nothin’” - even if he is not your Senator, call him anyway and at least leave a
message on his machine or with his legislative assistant. Leave your
phone number and address too. Senator Cuccinelli may be the swing vote on
this committee for HB 2943 – make sure you make this call.
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2. Senate FOIA Sub-committee Chairman Houck votes to deny SSN privacy
protections, but support horse racing promotion bill
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The VA Senate General Laws Committee does not think your privacy is
important and has tabled for “study” all SSN privacy bills introduced in the
Senate. Committee Chairman (and Senate majority leader) Walter A. Stosch
(R - Goochland County (Part); Henrico County (Part); Richmond City (Part)) and
his side-kick FOIA Subcommittee Chairman R. Edward Houck (R - Culpeper
County (All); Fredericksburg City (Part); Louisa County (All); Madison County
(All); Orange County (All); Spotsylvania County (Part)) are to thank for
this – but they both still found time to vote for SB 1410 to promote more horse
racing gambling in Virginia. See “Gambling Bill in Va.
Closer to Passage; Senate Approval Advances Games as Roads Fundraiser,” The
Washington Post, by Tim Craig, 10 February 2007 at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/09/AR2007020902207.html.
Identity thieves not only rob you of your credit, money,
and time - they steal your good name. Social Security numbers are
a key to stealing a person’s identity, but often, these numbers are available
for the asking thru (mainly) good laws like the VA FOIA which written without
SSN protections. Under
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=77191&paper=0&cat=109
But the VA Senate General Laws Committee gets a second chance on one bill that somehow passed the House of Delegates – HB 3097, Delegate Cole’s (R - Counties of Fauquier (part), Spotsylvania (part), and Stafford (part)) bill to allow local elected officials to secure sensitive identifiers in constituent communication from forced publication under the Freedom of Information Act – see http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?071+sum+HB3097.
After all, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander – General Assembly members wrote themselves a complete FOIA exemption on all constituent correspondence – yet Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Connolly, Richmond Mayor Wilder, and Vigrinia Beach Mayor Oberndorf can’t withhold under FOIA one iota of your correspondence, not even your Social Security Number or unlisted phone number!
And Senate FOIA Subcommittee Chairman Chairman R. Edward Houck (R - Culpeper County (All); Fredericksburg City (Part); Louisa County (All); Madison County (All); Orange County (All); Spotsylvania County (Part)) is not afraid to wield his power to keep constituent records 100% secret while denying locally elected officials even partial redaction authority for confidential information – see the response Senator Houck make to FCPC’s recent FOIA request:
Subject: FOI
Request
Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2007 13:00:38 -0500
From: district17@sov.state.va.us
To: FCPCChairman@cox.net
CC: ehouck@adelphia.net
Dear
Mr. Stollenwerk:
This e-mail responds to your request under the Virginia Freedom of Information
Act for records relating to constituent correspondence containing social
security numbers.
The Freedom of Information Act generally requires all records in the possession
of public officials relating to the transaction of public business be open for
public inspection and copying. However, subdivision 2 of § 2.2-3705.7 of
the Code of Virginia creates an exemption that allows members of the General
Assembly to withhold working papers and correspondence.
I am invoking my right to withhold from public disclosure any correspondence
containing social security numbers pursuant to subdivision 2 of § 2.2-3705.7.
Thank you for contacting my office.
R. Edward Houck, Member
17th Senatorial District of Virginia
p - 804.698.7517
e - district17@sov.state.va.us
ACTION ITEM #4: Email the Senate FOIA Sub-Committee (Senators
Houck, O’Brien, and herring) to reverse course and SUPPORT HB 3097!
Sample Message:
TO: district17@sov.state.va.us, district39@sov.state.va.us, district33@sov.state.va.us
SUBJECT: SUPPORT HB 3097 for constituent privacy!
Dear Chairman Houck and members of the Senate FOIA Sub-committee:
Please SUPPORT HB 3097, Delegate Cole’s common sense bill to let local elected officials have just a fraction of the power to protect constituent correspondence privacy that you already have, and apparently are not afraid to wield. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, and studying this bill for another year is just a cop out.
Please let me know what you are going to do.
Sincerely,
YOUR
NAME
YOUR ADDRESS
ACTION ITEM #5: Call Senator O’Brien (R- Fairfax
County) at (804) 698-7539 to ask him to “SUPPORT HB 3097 to protect constituent
privacy in correspondence to local officials” - even if he is not your Senator,
call him anyway and at least leave a message on his machine or with his
legislative assistant. Leave your phone number and address too.
Senator O’Brien may be the swing vote on this committee for HB 3097 – make sure
you make this call.
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3.
FCPC activist’s suit to be heard by VA Supreme Court on Valentine’s Day!
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At 1PM on Wednesday, 14 February 2007, a panel of the VA Supreme Court will
hear oral argument in the matter of Fenter v. Norfolk Airport Authority.
The case is about Norfolk Airport Authority’s refusal to response to FCPC member John Fenter’s FOIA demands that the Airport account for their illegal signs stating that "All vehicles entering airport are subject to search." The VA FOIA Counsel said that the Norfolk Airport Authority was breaking the law. See VA FOIA Council Opinion AO-05-06 at http://dls.state.va.us/groups/foiacouncil/ops/06/AO_05_06.htm.
But
a Norfolk Circuit Court Judge said he never heard of the VA FOIA Counsel and
let the Airport get away with blowing off the FOIA. See “Judge: Airport's refusal to explain signs OK, The Virginia-Pilot, by Debbie Massina, 24 August 2006, at
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=109754&ran=159231.
Stay tuned – if the Norfolk Airport wins the case, maybe they will offer a seat
on their board to Delegate Jackson Miller (R-Prince William County) author of
HB 2943, the sweeping "arrest and strip search your spouse &
sister" bill (see Alert Item #1 above).
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4. Federal REAL-ID Act collapsing
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It looks like finally the federal government’s Tri-National ID scheme to invade
our privacy and require Americans to carry identity papers around in daily life
is collapsing.
Opposition among state officials is turning into an open revolt against a federal law calling for the creation of standardized driver’s licenses. See “Rebellion Growing as States Challenge a Federal Law to Standardize Driver’s Licenses,” The New York Times, by Eirc Lipton, 5 February 2007, at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/05/washington/05real.html?ref=us.
Stay
tuned, and if you see Representative Tom Davis (
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5. 2007 FCPC bill tracker up and running
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See http://www.netxprtva.info/FCPC/GA2007.html
and pass it to your friends!
There
is some good news from
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Questions, or to be added/deleted from future Alerts? Contact Mike
Stollenwerk atFCPCChairman@cox.net