NOM

Posted: **Tue Feb 26, 2019 3:50 pm**

This just in:
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900 ... -utah.html

BYU PD will be decertified as if Sept 1 for failure to comply with state document laws.

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Posted: **Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:17 pm**

Amazing.

Posted: **Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:25 pm**

Was this fueled by RFM hammering them for the recordings and other data under the freedom of information act on the McKenna Denson case?

Posted: **Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:44 pm**

From the Trib:
https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/20 ... rtify-byu/

According to them it is from 2016 the case where the office leaked info about a rape case to the honor code office. First issue is the lack of internal investigation into to the officer involved and also the PD's failure to comply with FOI requests related to that case.

RFM's lawsuit is more rescent than that. But the fact that there are more outstanding FOI lawsuits like RFM's is not helping BYU PD's case.

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Posted: **Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:55 pm**

RubinHighlander wrote: ↑Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:25 pm Was this fueled by RFM hammering them for the recordings and other data under the freedom of information act on the McKenna Denson case?

Maybe? I can imagine it contributing to someone in the Utah Department of Public Safety (apparently Commissioner Jess L. Anderson) getting really fed up. I thought that GRAMA drama was finished, though. Consig?

BYU's response: "We're baffled because we think we complied, and anyway, we pay for this department, boo hoo."

"We pay for it" was part of their defense of not honoring GRAMA requests last year. They seem to think that if they pay to have a real police department, it doesn't have to play by the rules. No, guys, paying to get around rules is how bribery works. Also, you would have private security anyway, so this is really an exchange. Your private security gets upgraded to have the power of government to enforce the law, and in return it has to meet the standards of a real police force.

It seems skeezy to me.

Posted: **Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:57 pm**

Talk about wanting to have your cake and eat it too.

Essentially they are saying, "We want all the power of a regular state certified police force but we don't want to live by the states' rules because we're a private entity."

We should all be so blessed and special....

The other interesting thing is this warning from the state:
"The department also warned BYU in the letter not to "destroy, tamper with, conceal or alter" any records or documents."

Why would they have to warn an institution that touts it's own integrity as part of the reason they're so special!?!?

The state wouldn't be worried about someone in that institution "lying for the Lord", would they???

Posted: **Tue Feb 26, 2019 6:41 pm**

As usual,the comments are way more entertaining than the actual story.

One guys doesn't think BYU should comply with GRAMA laws but GRAMA should be re-written to comply with BYU.

Posted: **Mon Mar 25, 2019 11:03 am**

I was reading about this and came across an interesting tidbit.

The Utah legislature has passed a bill (SB197) that specifically adds language to Utah's GRAMA (freedom of information) law that requires private institutions of higher learning, with certified police forces, must comply with GRAMA. This bill has passed both house (73-0, 2 abstentions) and senate (26-0, 3 abstentions) and is currently sitting on the Governor's desk awaiting final approval or veto.

Once passes, this will completely destroy BYU's claim that a privately owned institution is not subject to GRAMA.

Posted: **Mon Mar 25, 2019 12:58 pm**

Just This Guy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2019 11:03 am ...and is currently sitting on the Governor's desk awaiting final approval or veto.

In other words the governor is waiting for instructions from the church.

As far as "we paid for it," goes, the language should be more like, "we double-taxed a lot of people to pay for it."

Posted: **Tue Mar 26, 2019 6:32 am**

Hagoth wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2019 12:58 pm
Just This Guy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2019 11:03 am ...and is currently sitting on the Governor's desk awaiting final approval or veto.
In other words the governor is waiting for instructions from the church.

Considering it passed unanimously though both the house and senate, there could be a strong case to go for an override if he chooses to veto.

Posted: **Wed Mar 27, 2019 12:38 am**

Just This Guy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 6:32 am
Hagoth wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2019 12:58 pm
Just This Guy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2019 11:03 am ...and is currently sitting on the Governor's desk awaiting final approval or veto.
In other words the governor is waiting for instructions from the church.
Considering it passed unanimously though both the house and senate, there could be a strong case to go for an override if he chooses to veto.

Apparently, the bill is also not retroactive, so the Trib and Radio Free Mormon will still have to wait for the Utah Supreme Court ruling.

Posted: **Wed Mar 27, 2019 11:49 am**

I have been following this, and I really hope they get decertified. That PD takes license for wanting to be above the law, and at the same time, utilizing the law.

I wonder where the funding has come from for their litigation? One way or another, I'm pretty sure the LDS church is the bankroller of their litigation team. Collusion at its finest....

Posted: **Wed Mar 27, 2019 1:32 pm**

I was reading through the SLC City Weekly mag today at lunch and saw that BYU made the 2019 Foilies list for the year's worst in government transparency:

https://www.cityweekly.net/utah/the-foi ... d=13295178

If it Looks like a Duck Award: Brigham Young University Police
Brigham Young University's Police Department is certified by the state,* has the powers of the state, but says that they're not actually a part of government for purposes of the Utah transparency law.

After The Salt Lake Tribune exposed that the university punished survivors of sexual assault for coming forward and reporting, the paper tried to get records of communications between the police department and the school's federally required sexual assault coordinator. BYU pushed back, saying that the police department is not subject to Utah's Government Records Access and Management Act because the police department is privately funded.

This actually turns out to be a trickier legal question than you'd expect. BYU itself isn't covered by the state law because it is a private school. But the university police force was created by an act of the Utah Legislature, and the law covers entities "established by the government to carry out the public's business." Investigating crime and arresting people seems like the public's business.

Last summer, a judge ruled that the police department is clearly a state agency, but the issue is now on appeal at the Utah Supreme Court. The Legislature, meanwhile, passed a bill toward the end of its session that says BYU's police department would have to disclose the records because the bill clarifies that a private university's police department is considered a government entity. Sometime this year we should learn if the police are a part of the government or not.

*Because BYU police failed to comply with state law, and was not responsive to an internal investigation, the Utah Office of Public Safety notified the department on Feb. 20 that the BYU police department will be stripped of its certification on Sept. 1, 2019. The university police also plan to appeal this decision.

But the award that really caught my eye was the Halifax police. That reminded me of how much not just governments overreact but how religions like TSCC react. Look how many good folks were Xd because they called out the truth!

Posted: **Thu Mar 28, 2019 5:28 am**

No one expects the Provo Inquisition!

Posted: **Thu Mar 28, 2019 5:35 am**

Hagoth wrote: ↑Thu Mar 28, 2019 5:28 am No one expects the Provo Inquisition!

ROTFL good!

Posted: **Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:17 am**

Hagoth wrote: ↑Thu Mar 28, 2019 5:28 am No one expects the Provo Inquisition!

HA! I'll bet that's how the Maxwell Institute felt when Holland showed up to kick them to the curb!

Posted: **Thu Mar 28, 2019 4:10 pm**

Lets not forget the purges instituted in BYU by President Wilkinson himself, nor the electrical Conversion Therapy that institution was involved in.

The whole history down there is nuts!

Posted: **Mon Apr 01, 2019 8:44 am**

SB0197 was signed into law by the governor on 3-25-19. I'm not sure what the effectivity date on this is. Whenever that is, BYUPD will officially be subject to GRAMA.

https://le.utah.gov/~2019/bills/static/SB0197.html

I wonder if they can pass a similar bill to add retroactive enforcement as well.

Posted: **Mon Apr 01, 2019 12:40 pm**

Just This Guy wrote: ↑Mon Apr 01, 2019 8:44 am SB0197 was signed into law by the governor on 3-25-19. I'm not sure what the effectivity date on this is. Whenever that is, BYUPD will officially be subject to GRAMA.

I can hear the paper shredders from here.

NOM

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