Coast Guard Academy Law Proffesor Gets it Right

Glenn Sulmasy

Nancy Benac with the Associated Press just published an article critical of President Obama’s change in tide since taking office.  It’s easy to attack the President for standing hard on his campaign promises but is that realistic?  I don’t think so.  A candidate running for our Nation’s highest office has to do absent the detailed analysis that a siting President has access to 24/7.  An academic at the United States Coast Guard Academy interviewed for Benac’s article summed it by saying,

“Obama is simply shifting from campaigning to governing.  It’s just the realities of executive power in the 21st century,” Sulmasy said. “When you sit down and see the threat of al-Qaida and the threats to national security and homeland security, this would be natural and normal for him to take such steps and measures.”

Glenn Sulmasy, who teaches constitutional law at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy is spot on.  Bravo Zulu Prof!

Navy taking a U-Turn on Transparency

by Michael DeKort

Navy Times is reporting that

The Navy has classified regular reports about the material condition of its fleet, an about-face from when the reports were accessible as public documents under the Freedom of Information Act.

I think this will mean the public has no way to find out if there are any performance and testing issues with ships it inspects. Remember the Coast Guard uses the Navy INSURV process to test, inspect and accept their ships now. Will this mean we will not know if there are any NSC issues including TEMPEST?

I think the Navy is doing this because they know some really big problems are about to see the light of day. Didn’t President Obama just dictate that the government will be more transparent?

This is not good and could set a terrible precident.

It’s a shame becuase I thought the Navy had been doing a much better job in the past few years at being transparent and holding people accountable.

Is Coast Guard Meeting the Presidents Expecations on FOIA

The President or as I like to call him the Commander in Chief on his second day in office his signed out a MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES establishing his policy and philosophy on the Freedom of Information Act.  Michael DeKorts post Deepwater FOIA Rejection begs the question is Coast Guard meeting the Presidents expectations on transparency.

We have written about the Presidents thoughts on FOIA before, and anyone who has been faced with a FOIA rejection letter or requests for a substantial fee couldn’t help but think the Open Government Act of 2008 would solve the problems with transparency.  It didn’t but  when the President said,

All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in FOIA, and to usher in a new era of open Government.  The presumption of disclosure should be applied to all decisions involving FOIA.

it gave us pause.  Would Coast Guard and the rest of the Federal Government act on the Presidents policy, we hoped so but  haven’t seen much proof as of yet.

The presumption of disclosure also means that agencies should take affirmative steps to make information public. They should not wait for specific requests from the public. All agencies should use modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their Government. Disclosure should be timely.

The President has directed the Attorney General to issue new guidelines governing the FOIA to the heads of executive departments and agencies, reaffirming the commitment to accountability and transparency, and to publish such guidelines in the Federal Register.

Navy to oversee maritime security

USCGC MIDGETT and the Indian Coast Guard Ship SAMAR conducting tactical maneuvering during MALABAR Exercises off the west coast of India. These annual Coast Guard and Navy exercises will include maritime law enforcement, maritime security, anti-piracy, maritime safety and other shipboard exercises.

In India that is.

In the backdrop of the Mumbai terror attacks exposing the chinks in coastal security, government on Saturday designated the Navy as the central authority responsible for the country’s overall maritime security.

“The Navy will be assisted by Coast Guard, state marine police and central agencies for the coastal defence of the nation,” Defence Minister A K Antony told reporters in Kochi.

Read more.

Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown MWR Easter Carnival

The MWR is having their first Easter Carnival on Saturday, April 4th, 2009 at 1100 hours at the USCG Training Center at TRACEN Yorktown, Virginia.

The Easter Bunny is on his way and will be hopping all around TRACEN Yorktown!

The easter egg hunt begins at 1300 hours in designated areas.

The Teeny Tiny Farm Traveling Pony Rides and Petting Zoos will be providing their special petting zoo and pony rides from 1245 hours until 1415 hours.

All active duty USCG members stationed at TRACEN Yorktown, are encouraged to bring their children to celebrate this special event!  Join the Easter Bunny for lunch at the Galley and fun-filled activities for all of the kids!

Free lunch for children ages 12 and under. All others are only $4.25 per person!

Please sign up at the gym, the deadline is April 2nd, 2009 at 1300 hours.

Don’t let your children miss out on this exciting event!

My Coast Guard Experience

by Tom Barnes

“Thanks for coming guys, this is awful nice.  I will try and keep this under ten minutes.  I was thinking about my career before we came over here and without going into a long list of where I was stationed, I just want to thank some people and tell a few stories.  I want to thank Seaman Recruit John Santo for trying to sneak into the woman’s barracks with me when we were in Boot Camp together.  No one else would do it with me but him.

We got caught before we got in there and lied about what we were doing and they bought it.  It was a close call, but it was fun”. “I want to thank the forty guys and gals that I served with on the Governor’s Island Security Detachment at my first assignment after Boot Camp.  We drank ourselves into oblivion most of the time we were not working.

We broke up some fights and stopped some married couples from killing each other. We saved some drunks from death and watched a few other drunks die right in front of us.  It was not a boring tour for me. That is for sure!  Of course that was the old Third Coast Guard District.  It doesn’t exist anymore.”

Read more at VeteransToday.com

Trial Date set in USA vs. Gerald Corcoran

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
MIAMI DIVISION
CASE NO. 09-20152-JORDAN
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
vs.
GERALD CORCORAN
____________________________________
)))))
ORDER SETTING PRETRIAL SCHEDULE AND TRIAL DATE
AND REQUIRING FILING OF SPEEDY TRIAL REPORTS

This case is set for trial during the two-week trial calendar beginning on April 13, 2009. If
the case cannot be tried during this two-week period, it will be re-set for each successive trial
calendar until it is tried or resolved. All counsel must be present for calendar call at 9 a.m. on April
7, 2009, in Courtroom 10-1, of the United States Courthouse, 400 N. Miami Avenue, Miami,
Florida.

The parties shall submit proposed voir dire questions, proposed jury instructions, and lists
of proposed exhibits prior to the calendar call. Pre-trial motions shall be filed no later than March
19, 2009. Responses to motions shall be filed by the deadline set by Local Rule 7.1.C and in no event
later than April 3, 2009. Unless otherwise ordered, motions shall not be referred to a magistrate
judge. The parties shall also file speedy trial reports as required by Local Rule 88.5.B.

Counsel are reminded of 18 U.S.C. § 3143(a)(2), which mandates the detention of certain
defendants upon an adjudication of guilt pending sentencing, subject to 18 U.S.C. § 3145(c)
(explaining that notwithstanding § 3143 (a)(2), a defendant can be released if he meets the conditions
of § 3143(a)(1) and it is clearly shown that there are “exceptional reasons” why detention would not
be appropriate). See, e.g., United States v. Hunter, 947 F.2d 1239, 1240 (5th Cir. 1991).

Done and ORDERED in chambers in Miami, Florida, this 27th day of February, 2009.
_______________________
Adalberto Jordan
United States District Judge

Homeland Security USA: Is the Coast Guard spending too much on defense?

In recent installments of “The Outtakes” focusing on ABC’s reality television series, “Homeland Security USA,” the Center for Investigative Reporting has posted some intriguing statistics for readers gleaned from federal reports that show how much the U.S. Coast Guard has spent executing its more traditional responsibilities such as search and rescue compared to its so-called “homeland security missions,” expanded significantly after 9/11.

Read more at the Center for Investigative Reporting

White House Blog goes Live on Middle Class

Liveblogging at AStrongMiddleClass.gov

The Vice President and his team are in Philadelphia this morning for the first meeting of the Middle Class Task Force, and it’s all about how green jobs — jobs that help us move towards a growing, greener, cleaner economy — can be an aid to the middle class.

He makes the case in an op-ed appearing this morning in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Today’s event should be really interesting. The Task Force is going to be meeting with the people who know this field the best — the policy makers and entrepeneurs and advocates who are working together to figure out how to grow our economy and do what’s right for the environment at the same time, while making sure the middle class benefits.

We’re going to be liveblogging the event over at AStrongMiddleClass.gov — thanks to Greg Nelson from the Office of Public Liaison, who’s attending the meeting — so check back throughout the day.

Member of Obama transition team addresses Coast Guard cadets

”What we found, in delving deeply into the bowels of the bureaucracy, is that sometimes decisions had been deferred. Problems had been patched up and then an enormous backlog had built up of these deferred issues,” she said in an interview. “So when you come into an administration wanting to change it and you find out that even what was said to have been in place before wasn’t, it makes your challenge that much harder.”

Read more at TheDay.com