4 ms·

Uvalde Hires Law Firm, Argues It Doesn't Have to Release Shooting Public Records

85 points by arkadiyt 4y ago

lucasyvas 4y ago
This is a great way to convince people that they need to see the records. Talk about your all time backfires.
- iancmceachern 4y ago
  Yeah, it's a classic "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" move
- mc32 4y ago
  Kind Streisand Effect of sorts.
bumblebritches5 4y ago
camgunz 4y ago
Seems like they're hoping for the TX Supreme Court to bail them out, because the PIA (FOIA for Texas) is pretty clear this is mostly not covered (other than info on crime victims) [0]. [0]: https://texas.staterecords.org/foia https://texas.staterecords.org/foia
- the_only_law 4y ago
  > The PIA requires governmental bodies to treat all requests equally. The Act grants the following rights to requesters: > Prompt access to non-confidential or otherwise protected information Yes... Prompt I'm sure.
notch656a 4y ago
Very well. Criminally, presume they are innocent. Professionally, these employees have refused to answer to their boss, the public, therefore they should all be fired for insubordination. If no one in the entire police/school board are willing to release records then simply fire everyone from the top down.
- blooalien 4y ago
  > … "then simply fire everyone from the top down." I feel that this is how politicians who have abdicated their duties / responsibilities (nearly every single one of them, sadly) should be handled as well.
  - sennight 4y ago
    Outside of actions that exclusively benefit the politician (generic abuse of power, bribery, etc), that would be an impossible threshold to clear in a representative democracy - given the whole prevention-of-majority-tyranny raison d'etre. But what we have here is nakedly self serving and at the expense of everyone who isn't them: they're refusing to release records on the grounds that they're "highly embarrassing" and capture their state of "emotional/mental distress". The only way that one could argue that it isn't self serving: by forcing them to comply with the law you establish a precedent that would discourage police departments from cowardly doing nothing as children are murdered - because the knowledge that they can't sweep their misdeeds under the rug would pressure them into doing their jobs. I look forward to hearing that argument, and how this is actually a selfless act - heroic even, in service to all future feckless cops.
- TaylorAlexander 4y ago
  If only police departments in the USA actually answered to the public…
  - toofy 4y ago
    i absolutely agree with the sentiment, but this issue is much wider than police departments. the people are supposed to have privacy while power (of all sorts) gives transparency. in front of our eyes this is being flipped on its head: power is asserting all privacy while demanding that we—the public plebes—give up ours. much of this community have been fighting against losing this privacy for years. the piece that hasn’t been getting as much voice is how power is becoming far less transparent and refusing to answer anything. (and yes, flooding a topic with noise making it impossible to find signal on an issue is the opposite of transparency.) and for you partisan hacks, this is both parties, and yes, this includes your favorite cult figure. it’s being flipped on its head. the countless recent police incidents is just one of many many many incidents.
plouffy 4y ago
What a great way to spend all the money people donated.
MandieD 4y ago
What we would find out: the cops killed at least one kid in their attempt to shoot the attacker without getting too close.
- JoeyBananas 4y ago
  we already know they killed several through their inaction

85 points by arkadiyt 4y ago

lucasyvas 4y ago

This is a great way to convince people that they need to see the records. Talk about your all time backfires.

iancmceachern 4y ago
Yeah, it's a classic "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" move
mc32 4y ago
Kind Streisand Effect of sorts.

bumblebritches5 4y ago

camgunz 4y ago

Seems like they're hoping for the TX Supreme Court to bail them out, because the PIA (FOIA for Texas) is pretty clear this is mostly not covered (other than info on crime victims) [0]. [0]: https://texas.staterecords.org/foia https://texas.staterecords.org/foia

the_only_law 4y ago
> The PIA requires governmental bodies to treat all requests equally. The Act grants the following rights to requesters: > Prompt access to non-confidential or otherwise protected information Yes... Prompt I'm sure.

notch656a 4y ago

Very well. Criminally, presume they are innocent. Professionally, these employees have refused to answer to their boss, the public, therefore they should all be fired for insubordination. If no one in the entire police/school board are willing to release records then simply fire everyone from the top down.

blooalien 4y ago
> … "then simply fire everyone from the top down." I feel that this is how politicians who have abdicated their duties / responsibilities (nearly every single one of them, sadly) should be handled as well.
- sennight 4y ago
  Outside of actions that exclusively benefit the politician (generic abuse of power, bribery, etc), that would be an impossible threshold to clear in a representative democracy - given the whole prevention-of-majority-tyranny raison d'etre. But what we have here is nakedly self serving and at the expense of everyone who isn't them: they're refusing to release records on the grounds that they're "highly embarrassing" and capture their state of "emotional/mental distress". The only way that one could argue that it isn't self serving: by forcing them to comply with the law you establish a precedent that would discourage police departments from cowardly doing nothing as children are murdered - because the knowledge that they can't sweep their misdeeds under the rug would pressure them into doing their jobs. I look forward to hearing that argument, and how this is actually a selfless act - heroic even, in service to all future feckless cops.
TaylorAlexander 4y ago
If only police departments in the USA actually answered to the public…
- toofy 4y ago
  i absolutely agree with the sentiment, but this issue is much wider than police departments. the people are supposed to have privacy while power (of all sorts) gives transparency. in front of our eyes this is being flipped on its head: power is asserting all privacy while demanding that we—the public plebes—give up ours. much of this community have been fighting against losing this privacy for years. the piece that hasn’t been getting as much voice is how power is becoming far less transparent and refusing to answer anything. (and yes, flooding a topic with noise making it impossible to find signal on an issue is the opposite of transparency.) and for you partisan hacks, this is both parties, and yes, this includes your favorite cult figure. it’s being flipped on its head. the countless recent police incidents is just one of many many many incidents.

plouffy 4y ago

What a great way to spend all the money people donated.

MandieD 4y ago

What we would find out: the cops killed at least one kid in their attempt to shoot the attacker without getting too close.

JoeyBananas 4y ago
we already know they killed several through their inaction