I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news that Len Bias had died. All I can remember being told was that Bias had died after using cocaine. And that it had been his first time. It was a scary story. And it worked as a scary story. I never tried cocaine; I always cited Bias as the reason. But, of course, there's a lot more to Bias' life and death.

Thankfully, Without Bias, the moving documentary on his life, has finally been released. Unlike the recent Marion Barry doc, this one is loaded with moving interviews with all the major players from his family to the friends who were with him in that dorm room that night. No portrait of Bias comes closer to getting at the truth about Bias' cocaine use and the political impact of his death. [the tragedy played a role in the creation of mandatory minimum sentencing laws].

The documentary  had apparently sat on shelves for years. The movie's trailer has been up on youtube since February 2008. Only late last month did the movie have its premiere on University of Maryland's campus. It's now airing on ESPN. It's a must see.

The American Federation of Government Employees-Local 2741 is not finished fighting Fenty and Co. over his decision to privatize daycare duties within the Department of Parks and Rec. The union's case had been dismissed in federal court on jurisdictional grounds. Today, the union filed its civil suit in D.C. Superior Court.

Just maybe AG Peter Nickles celebrated a little too soon.

Last week on Kojo, Nickles crowed about his alleged big victory in U.S. District Court. His office even posted a press release after the District Court judge dismissed the union's complaint. In the release, Nickles and Fenty both give statements:

“The Administration is pleased with yesterday's ruling. This decision allows the District to move forward with its commitment to provide residents with the best possible day care options,” said Mayor Fenty.

Peter Nickles said, “I am particularly gratified by the court’s prompt resolution of this outstanding litigation. The decision essentially supports the District’s prerogative to assert sound operational principles in an effort to effectively and successfully manage the Department of Parks and Recreation.”

I doubt we will see another press release from the OAG announcing that the case has essentially just been moved to D.C. Superior Court.

Read More "Daycare Fight Continues: Union Files New Lawsuit" »

Its sugar content. Frat boys. The idea of legal, liquid crack. The way it turns your vomit a candy-apple color. Here's another reason to hate Red Bull. I just saw a grown man try to buy Red Bull with food stamps. The 7-11 clerk had to turn him away. Sigh.

*photo courtesy of energy drink guru.

According to census data collected from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1, the number of homeless families who've added their names to a "pending case" list has jumped to 410. The waiting list number the previous week had reached 382.  This represents a significant and worrisome jump. You can check out the census data here.

Read More "Scary Stats: The Number Of Homeless Families In Need Jumps" »

In the past few weeks, the Office of the Attorney General has waged a curious battle against plaintiffs in the Pershing Park case.

Attorney General Peter Nickles & Co. fought over whether plaintiffs could depose a government witness. They lost that battle and the deposition provided devastating evidence of more discovery abuses.

The losing fight over the depo has yet to put a dent in Nickles' M.O. The AG has not backed down from further stonewalling in the cases. In a curious move, the OAG argued in federal court filings that plaintiffs should return 211 pages of documents claiming that they were "mistakenly produced." The OAG contended that these documents were attorney-client work product.

Last night, Legal Times reported that U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled against Nickles on the matter.

So what are these mystery docs?

Read More "Pershing Park Case: Read The Document Nickles Didn’t Want You To See" »

Today, I wrote up a piece about how Office of Attorney General lawyers were/are furious with fire department brass. What's the reason for their anger? A shoddy investigation into the Georgetown Library fire that has become the subject of a massive lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court. The shoddy investigation means a lot of problems with basics like discovery and evidence requests by plaintiffs attorneys.

In my item (linked above, please read it!), I quote from two OAG lawyers' e-mails to the fire department. The two attorneys call out the department for their potentially damaging stonewalling on the discovery, and question whether fire investigators followed basic national standards when they worked the Georgetown library case.

In my calls to the OAG prior to publishing the piece (linked above, please read it!), I got nowhere. Nothing much beyond no comment, it's pending litigation, the usual.

A few hours after my item ran (linked above, please read it!), OAG's Kimberly Matthews called to say she really, really wanted to see those e-mails. Could I please send them to her?

Read More "OAG Calls. It Wants Its Emails Back." »

First the Pershing Park case. The Office of the Attorney General may have had serious trouble with another high profile lawsuit---the Georgetown Library fire case. In April 2007, a three-alarm fire gutted Georgetown's public library. Two hundred firefighters along with roughly two dozen trucks battled the blaze. That huge effort may not have translated into a thorough investigation into the fire's cause. Chief Dennis Rubin and Co.'s sloppy detective work may cost the city big time.

In a lawsuit stemming from the fire, a contractor has challenged the department's conclusions that heat guns caused the blaze. The contractor saw enough holes in the fire department's investigation to sue the District.  Whether heat guns caused the blaze or not, the lawsuit is making one thing clear: the OAG is having difficulties furnishing evidence and discovery materials.

And OAG lawyers are furious at fire department personnel.

If there ever was a fire that called out for a serious investigation, it would be the twin fires that gutted the library and Eastern Market. The Eastern Market fire continues to be a subject of debate. Apparently, according to e-mails obtained by City Desk, the Georgetown Library fire investigation was far from competent.

At one point, an OAG attorney calls into question whether fire investigators followed national standards, and whether those investigators should be punished.

Read More "OAG E-Mails Show Frustration With Fire Department; Did Investigators Botch The Georgetown Library Case?" »

The New Teacher on the Block sums up Rhee's testimony last week:

"So it boils down to this: Michelle Rhee intentionally and illegally fabricated a budget shortfall in order to fire teachers. Around the time of the RIF she blamed the City Council for the lack of funds, but all this shows that there was room and time for DCPS to make adjustments (not hiring 900 new folks?) to the system before a RIF became necessary."

Dee Does the District has their own reaction to Rhee's testimony:

"I don't know whether to throw my laptop off my balcony or weep. I think instead I'll just go to bed, speechless."

Read More "Our Morning Roundup Shocker: Teachers Not Pleased With Rhee’s Testimony" »

*photo by Darrow Montgomery.

After some last minute stonewalling by the Office of the Attorney General, Pershing Park plaintiffs were finally allowed to depose a District employee concerning the vast discovery abuses in this mess of a case. Backed up by a court order, the employee was deposed on October 23. According to a filing submitted in U.S. District Court yesterday, the deposition exposed new  discovery abuses.

What are those new abuses?

During discovery over the cases, District employees culled e-mails related to Pershing Park. There were so many e-mails found that they needed a flatbed dolly to transport the documents. Those thousands of pages were carted to the office of the D.C. Police Department's general counsel.

Years later, the documents have not yet been turned over to plaintiffs attorneys. Even after the U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan slammed the city for its discovery failings this past summer. Even after AG Peter Nickles promised a thorough case review and document dump.

How do the lawyers know this? The District's own witness---Kimberly Thorpe---told them in last week's deposition.

Read More "Pershing Park Case: New Discovery Abuse Shocker" »

From Kojo:

Ugh.

"The mayor had nothing to do with the contract."---Peter Nickles on Kojo concerning questions related to the parks contracts to Fenty's frat brothers. Then why is there a hearing going on? Maybe Nickles needs to read LL's latest column.

And this from Nickles: "I think Mary Cheh is great....Mary Cheh is a great councilmember."

At this point in the whole Pershing Park court mess, AG Peter Nickles is supposed to just play nice and hope the two big cases settle. Nickles offered up his problematic mea culpa and promised that settlements would be forthcoming. It appears his sweet talk has an expiration date.

Last week, plaintiffs lawyers in the Chang case filed an emergency motion to get the OAG to comply with a request to take a deposition. The plaintiffs lawyers wanted to depose a District official "regarding the District's preservation or lack thereof of electronically stored materials, including e-mails."

This deposition goes to the heart of the entire court mess. And it may be important since the D.C. Council hasn't come close to investigating the Pershing Park discovery problems or the missing evidence in the case.

But the OAG decided to prevent such a deposition from taking place. The lawyers write in their motion:

"Two days before the deposition was to go forward, District counsel unilaterally and without cause announced that the deposition was cancelled, suggesting that it continues to believe its litigation strategy of discovery abuse can continue without consequences."

More on this drama after the jump.

Read More "Pershing Park Case: OAG Reverts Back To Stonewalling" »

This is a bad sign. The weather is still pretty decent. But homeless shelters are at capacity or over capacity, according to recent census figures.  On October 27, there were no vacancies for homeless men, and shelters for homeless women were over capacity by two. There were zero vacancies listed for homeless families.

Yesterday, there were four vacancies at men's shelters. Women shelters were over capacity by one. There were zero vacancies for homeless families.

Read More "Big Worry: District Homeless Shelters Are Already At Capacity" »

In early 2009, the Partnership for Civil Justice filed a lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court in the hopes that the D.C. Police Department would get its act together and comply with a very basic FOIA request. What did the civil rights lawyers want?

They wanted the D.C. Police to cough up their operational procedures and general orders. In other words, just the rules on how the police are supposed to govern themselves, and utilize their authority with the general public. The complaint stated:

“Public disclosure of the operational policies and practices, orders and staff instructions of the police department is essential for policing in a democratic society and to establish accountability….The D.C. FOIA mandates that the MPD specifically make public and make available upon demand its policies, procedures, manuals and staff instructions….Additionally the MPD is required to publish a general index of all such records unless the materials are promptly published and copies offered for sale.”

Today, the Partnership announced that the D.C. Police Department has finally complied with the FOIA.

Read More "It’s About Time: D.C. Police Release General Orders In Response To FOIA Fight" »