National Roundup

New York
Court OKs release of police discipline records
NEW YORK (AP) — Many New York City police discipline records can be made public over the objections of unions, an appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld a decision last year by Judge Katherine Polk Failla.

Unions had opposed a new state transparency law on the grounds that it would unfairly taint the reputations of police officers, affecting their future employment.

But the 2nd Circuit agreed with the lower-court judge, finding no evidence that job prospects for officers were harmed in numerous other states where similar records are available publicly.

Messages seeking comment were sent to lawyers in the case.

The Civilian Complaint Review Board, a watchdog agency, had sought to let the public search officer histories on its website.

Mayor Bill de Blasio had promised to post a database of misconduct complaints online as well.

The Police Benevolent Association, representing New York City police officers, and other public safety unions had challenged the disclosures, particularly those deemed unsubstantiated or unfounded and those in which officers were exonerated or a settlement was reached.

They argued that posting unproven or false complaints could spoil officers' reputations and compromise their safety while making it more difficult for them to find employment after their police careers had ended.

The controversy arose after New York lawmakers, reacting in part to protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and other police misconduct, repealed a law last year that for decades blocked the public disclosure of disciplinary records for police officers, as well as firefighters and correctional officers.

New Hampshire
Lawsuit seeks remote access to State House sessions
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire Democrats are seeking a court order to allow lawmakers with serious medical conditions to attend next week's House sessions remotely.

With 400 members, the New Hampshire House is one of the largest legislative bodies in the world and skews older in age. Since last March, lawmakers have met several times at the University of New Hampshire ice arena, outside on a UNH athletic field, and from their cars in a parking lot. Next week's sessions will be held at a sports complex in Bedford.

Nearly 30 of the 400 House members requested accommodations because of medical disabilities ahead of previous sessions but were denied. Six of them filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday, arguing that holding in-person sessions without a remote option violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and the state and federal constitutions.

The plaintiffs wrote in the lawsuit that they suffer from conditions and disabilities that put them at risk, and, accordingly, in-person attendance "is impossible without subjecting them to extreme pain and suffering, as well as a serious threat to their health and their lives."

"Aside from the harmful effect the denial of reasonable remote accommodation has upon the Representatives themselves, it has the further deleterious effect of preventing the House from representing the will of the majority of citizens," they wrote.

The lawsuit was filed against House Speaker Sherm Packard, who was elected to the leadership post after former Speaker Dick Hinch died of COVID-19 a week after the outdoor session in December. Packard, R-Londonderry, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday, but last week told Democrats that remote participation may eventually be possible for members with specific health issues, though not in time for next week's sessions.

Republican House leaders have said fully remote sessions are not possible because no rules exist to allow it, while blocking attempts to create such rules. But the Senate has been meeting remotely without an explicit rule, and the House has been holding "hybrid" committee hearings that allow for remote participation.

The plaintiffs include a 74-year-old lawmaker awaiting a kidney transplant, an 81-year-old who lives in a senior living complex that forbids attending large gatherings and House Democratic Leader Renny Cushing, 68, who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in July. Since then, he has only left his home for non-medical reasons on four occasions: three related to House sessions and once to visit his mother before she died of COVID-19.

"It's unfortunate that we have to take this step to defend our democracy and public health during the midst of a pandemic," Cushing said in a statement Tuesday. "Democrats have tried for months now in good faith to persuade the Republican majority to put public health before politics and provide for remote participation in House Sessions for those lawmakers vulnerable to COVID-19."

Connecticut
Mayor convicted in 2003 reapplies to get law license back
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — The mayor of Connecticut's largest city has launched a second attempt to get his law license reinstated, more than a decade after he finished a seven-year prison sentence for corruption.

Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim filed an application for reinstatement as an attorney last week in Bridgeport Superior Court, state Judicial Branch officials announced Tuesday. A committee of attorneys will make a recommendation to the court as to whether Ganim should be readmitted to the state bar.

Ganim was disbarred after being convicted in 2003 of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in expensive wine, custom clothes, cash and home improvements while serving as mayor. He was released from prison in 2010 and completed a stunning political comeback in 2015 when he was elected again as mayor.

In 2012, a panel of three state judges rejected Ganim's first application to get his law license back.

In his new court filing, Ganim says he wants to represent poor people and families for free in general law matters.