Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke Britt sided with Notre Dame Security Police (NDSP) on Monday in responding to a complaint filed with his office last month by The Observer. The complaint concerned the police force and Notre Dame’s denial of records requests in November, despite a change in state law last year that might have required them to grant access.The relevant law hinges on the legal distinction between private and public agencies.Under Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act (APRA), “public agencies” — like local police departments — are required to release certain records by law. However, private university police departments like NDSP have long been considered private agencies under state law, and therefore not subject to APRA.Last spring, the Indiana State Legislature passed HB 1022, which would have required private university police departments to disclose records only in situations where someone was arrested or incarcerated, shielding them specifically from the rest of APRA. It was vetoed by then-Gov. Mike Pence in March.But in November, the South Bend Tribune reported another law — HB 1019 — was also passed last year containing language such that it inadvertently changed the state’s definition of a “public agency” to specifically include university police departments.Effective July 1 of last year, the law changed the term’s definition, which now reads in the Indiana State Code as the following:“‘Public agency,’ except as provided in section 2.1 of this chapter, means the following: … (11) A private university police department. The term does not include the governing board of a private university or any other department, division, board, entity, or office of a private university.”Of the change in the definition, Britt said it was “inadvertently inserted into HB 1019.”Britt said in a letter that his office became aware of the error in July 2016, and that “on the advice of the Legislative Services agency,” he began to advise his constituents that the changed definition had “the full force of law.”“In August of 2016, however, the Indiana Legislative Council voted unanimously to include the error in the 2017 Technical Corrections Bill, HB 1181,” Britt said. “As of the date of this writing [Jan. 30] it had been referred to the Judiciary Committee but had not yet been passed.”Britt also cited the state Supreme Court’s decision in ESPN’s lawsuit against Notre Dame, which ruled in November that private universities in Indiana are not obligated to disclose police records.“While I may respectfully disagree with that ruling as Public Access Counselor for policy reasons, I defer to the Court’s opinion as the binding and final authority on the matter,” Britt said.Ultimately, Britt said his interpretation of the events surrounding HB 1019 is that the change regarding private university police departments was unintentional.“While the language itself and its impact is substantive and not technical in nature, it was obviously an oversight to include it in the bill,” he said. “I hesitate to categorize it as a simple scrivener’s error, however, it appears to be done in error.“It has been my modus to evaluate the totality of circumstances of an issue and not make determinations on a technicality.”Because he believes the correction will pass the General Assembly and because of his interpretation of the original bill’s intent, Britt said he would “defer to the General Assembly.”If, however, the section regarding APRA is removed from or altered in the legislative corrections bill and private university police departments remain in the definition of “public agency,” Britt said he would revisit the issue.Tags: APRA, HB 1019, HB 1022, NDSP, police records
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Eradicating mistakes & preparing for gold in Oly: Lovlina Borgohain
NEW DELHI: Despite being just 22, boxer Lovlina Borgohain has been a constant fixture for India at world events for quite sometime now. She won back-to-back bronze medals at World Championships in 2018 and 2019 in welterweight category but according to her own admission, nothing but gold will satisfy her when she takes to the ring at Tokyo Olympics in 2021.”My aim is to win gold and I have been training accordingly as well. Having said that, it isn’t guaranteed that if you work for gold then you will get gold,” Lovlina told IANS. “My goal is to give my 100 percent…if I am able to give my 100 percent then I know I will win gold for the country,” she added. Before coronavirus pandemic put a halt on sports worldwide, Lovlina secured an Olympic quota for India in March 2020. Her progess inside the ring was cut short by the lockdown. But the talented pugilist conceded that she enjoyed being at home for this long duration, something she wasn’t able to do since 2012. “I faced some problems during the lockdown initially but then I had my equipment at home so I continued with my training,” Lovlina said. “But the fact that I got to stay at home for such a long time, I am enjoying every bit of it. Earlier, we used to stay at home only for two-three days at a time because of tournaments and camps. “After 2012, this is the first time I have been at home for such a long time. I also helped my father in the field, got time to cook at home… so it has been a good experience for me.” As the world is slowly and steadily getting back on its feet, sports around the world is also retuning to stadia. One of the biggest casualty due to the COVID-19 crisis was the Olympics. The multi-national event was initially set to be hosted in July this year but due to coronavirus pandemic, it will now take place from July 23 till August 8. “Initially, I felt a bit disappointed that Olympics was postponed. There were few months left for the Games and I felt I was at the peak of my powers,” Lovlina said. “But now, after giving it a thought, I felt that I have enough time to change my game around. I felt that I was going well at competitive events but gold was missing. So I have time on my side to eradicate those mistakes.” Now the long journey to regain full fitness begins for athletes like Lovlina, who were operating on world-clsss levels before coronavirus stoppage. She also explained that the idea is to peak at the right time and she has plans in place for that. “I can’t put a timeframe on it. It’s not possible to even reach your peak in one or two months. Also, the idea is to keep things slow and peak at the right time,” Lovlina explained. “If we attain our top form in the next one or two months, there is a chance that our levels will drop. So, we have to maintain our routine and keep building form slowly. We can’t go ahead with heavy training straightaway. The idea is to peak just one or two months before the Olympics,” she added. Lovlina also spoke about her association with Adidas ‘What’s One More’ film, under the ‘Ready For Sport’ campaign, which has been created to keep all athletes ready for 2021. “I have been getting a lot of support from them and they have been motivating me as well. Whatever problems we face with respect to our training and other requirements, it gets taken care of. “There was another campaign, namely ‘Home Team Challenge’, in which we used to do training at home to keep fit. We have now started with the new campaign ‘One More’…we had been training for four years and now we have to continue doing the same for one more year,” she added. IANS Also watch: Anti-CAA Protest in Naharkatia