CONCORD, NH The state Senate voted unanimously Thursday in favor of proposed legislation that would make public police disciplinary hearings before the Police Standards and Training Council and make public the confidential Laurie List of dishonest police.
State Sen. Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, introduced House Bill 471 and its recent amendment, congratulating everyone who worked on what she called a compromise to the controversial Laurie List issue.
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There was no mention that the amendment stems from confidential negotiations between ACLU-NH, Solicitor General Daniel Will and five of the news outlets involved in a public records lawsuit against the state seeking to make public the names of the 280 plus officers on the list. Only one news outlet, lead petitioner the New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism, opposed the compromise.
Proposed legislation that would require police disciplinary hearings at the Police Standards and Training Council be conducted in public, and a last-minute amen
A bill filed in the New Hampshire legislature would make it more difficult for the public to access police records, reversing a recent decision by the state’s supreme court that requires greater openness. The New England First Amendment Coalition reports:
Senate Bill 39 intends to exempt police personnel files, internal investigations and other law enforcement records from the New Hampshire Right-to-Know Law.
If made law, the bill would overturn a New Hampshire Supreme Court decision Seacoast Newspapers, Inc. v. City of Portsmouth that ruled such documents were not categorically exempt under the public records statute.
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Court grants public access to report on Canaan police probe unionleader.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from unionleader.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A Grafton County judge has ruled that a newspaper should have access to an internal affairs report into an excessive force complaint against a Canaan police officer, even when the report found in his favor.
In a Dec. 2 ruling, Superior Court Judge Peter Bornstein granted access to a report commissioned by Canaan police following complaints by a local woman charged with resisting arrest and disobeying a police officer.
The case involving former Officer Samuel Provenza is believed to be the first Right-to-Know case involving police files since last spring, when the New Hampshire Supreme Court overturned a 27-year-old precedent and granted access to public employee personnel files if a good reason exists to do so.