Delaware Dept. of Insurance: Not in the public interest
Ethics complaint filed against Insurance Commissioner A Lewes businessman has filed a complaint with the Delaware Public Integrity Commission accusing Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart of violating state law. Read the ethics complaint filed against the Delaware Insurance Commissioner Insurance Departments biggest contractor evading taxes Regulatory Insurance Services receives $1 million per month from the Delaware Department of Insurance, but former staffers say the well-connected firm has been misclassifying its employees to avoid paying federal and state taxes for more than 16 years. How to fix Delaware's captive insurance bureau Delaware's unprofitable captive insurance bureau will continue to flounder, unlikely to see any new revenue dollars, unless there are substantive reforms, national experts say The Vermont Model Vermont's captive insurance division, which is 800-percent larger than Delaware's captive bureau, runs leaner, produces more and pays its director and senior staff half as much. Insurance commissioner ignores state procurement laws The Delaware Office of Management and Budget has chastised the Department of Insurance for writing purchase orders - after the fact - for no-bid contracts worth more than a half-million taxpayer dollars. Read the contract between RCI and the Insurance Department Read the OMB warning letter to the Insurance Department Insurance commissioner wants secret meeting with lawmakers just hours before public hearings Delaware Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart has scheduled a private meeting with the House and Senate insurance committees to be held behind closed doors, just three hours before these lawmakers will hold public hearings to examine her management of the department. In an e-mail sent Monday evening to the members of the two committees, Stewart appears to be trying to preempt some of the questions she'll likely face during the public hearings. House, Senate insurance committees to hold hearings into allegations of mismanagement at Dept. of Insurance The chair of the House Banking and Insurance Committee announced Thursday he wants Delaware Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart to publically answer allegations of impropriety that were raised by the Caesar Rodney Institute, as well as allegations she failed to sufficiently regulate a local insurer. Rep. Bryon Short, D-Highland Woods, said he's heard the concerns expressed about the state's insurance department after CRI released its special report titled: "Delaware Dept. of Insurance: Not in the public interest." The Commissioner's car Delaware Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart didn't own a car when she was elected to office in 2008. Stewart asked for and received a state-owned Dodge Avenger, which she used as her personal car, despite the February 2009 order from Gov. Jack Markell, which required a "zero-based approach with respect to the use of the state fleet vehicles and take-home privileges. In other words, the use of all fleet vehicles will need to be justified. Previous use will not be viewed as sufficient justification to keep a car." About this report To compile the special report, the Caesar Rodney Institute submitted nearly a dozen Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, and conducted numerous of interviews of former and current Department of Insurance employees, as well as industry and legal experts. Read DOI Commissioner's e-mails, Volume 1 Read DOI Commissioner's e-mails, Volume 2 Read DOI Commissioner's e-mails, Volume 3 Read DOI Commissioner's e-mails, Volume 4 MAIN STORY: Delaware Dept. of Insurance: Not in the public interest A nine-month investigation by the Caesar Rodney Institute has found that Delaware taxpayers may not be getting their fair share of the millions of dollars the Delaware Department of Insurance rakes in annually - at a time when state employees' salaries are being cut and services scaled back because of the worst economic crisis in recent memory. Based on numerous interviews, court records and nearly a dozen Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, including one for all of DOI Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart's e-mail correspondence, and another for Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) data for her state-owned Dodge Avenger, CRI found an agency fraught with problems, some of which include: questionable hiring practices, questionable contracts for campaign donors, failure to comply with state law and most troublesome, millions of taxpayer dollars paid to out-of-state consultants.
Delaware Public Housing: Disarmed by Decree
READ the NRA complaint filed against the WHA NRA sues Wilmington Housing Authority for violating residents Second Amendment rights WILMINGTON, Del. - The National Rifle Association filed a civil rights lawsuit today against the Wilmington Housing Authority (WHA) and its executive director Frederick S. Purnell, Sr., seeking to force the WHA to allow its residents to possess firearms within their homes. Attorney General Beau Biden asked to rule on gun bans Attorney General Beau Biden is being asked to decide whether the individual right to keep and bear arms guaranteed in the Delaware and U.S. Constitutions applies to people living in public housing. House Bill 357 introduced to overturn Public Housing gun bans A bill that would stop the state's public housing authorities from banning guns was introduced today, co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of more than two-dozen state lawmakers. The legislation comes in response to an ongoing investigative series by the Caesar Rodney Institute, which revealed that every housing authority in Delaware banned their residents from owning firearms for self-defense. Read House Bill No. 357 An act to prevent government bodies from regulating firearms. Second Amendment experts say public housing gun bans are illegal, and could cost taxpayers millions of dollars Second Amendment experts and scholars have been watching events unfolding in Delaware, after the Caesar Rodney Institute revealed the state's public housing authorities ban their tenants from owning firearms. HUD: Public housing gun bans a local decision The Delaware State Housing Authority and the Dover Housing Authority have turned to their lawyers and HUD to help them determine what to do about their firearms prohibitions - gun bans experts say violate the state and federal Constitutions. HUD, however, does not want to get involved. Read the NRA demand letter to the Wilmington Housing Authority Read the NRA demand letter to the Newark Housing Authority Read the NRA demand letter to the Delaware State Housing Authority Read the NRA demand letter to the Dover Housing Authority Newark Housing Authority withdraws gun ban A residents' handbook containing rules and regulations for everyone living in property operated by the Newark Housing Authority was "misleading," according to Rob Detwiler, who chairs the authority's Board of Commissioners. A section in the handbook requiring that tenants must "not possess explosives, firearms or flammable material on NHA's property," will be removed, Detwiler told the Caesar Rodney Institute Wednesday morning. NRA warns public housing officials gun bans are unconstitutional and should be promptly rescinded to avoid litigation. In four strongly-worded letters, the National Rifle Association has put the state's public housing authorities on notice: they should voluntarily remove their prohibitions against individual firearms ownership to avoid a lawsuit. NRA General Counsel Robert Dowlut sent the letters via e-mail Monday to the executive directors of the four housing authorities that operate their own low-income housing in Delaware. Read the demand letter the NRA sent to the housing authorities Robert Dowlut, General Counsel to the National Rifle Association, sent demand letters to all four Delaware housing authorities that ban their residents from owning firearms for self-defense. The text of Dowlut's letter follows: Disarmed by Decree WILMINGTON - Thousands of Delaware's most vulnerable residents, forced by their socio-economic status to live in some of the state's most dangerous neighborhoods, are prohibited from possessing the means to defend themselves from the drug dealers and thugs who infest their communities. A five-month investigation by the Caesar Rodney Institute has revealed that all four of the state's public housing authorities ban their residents from owning firearms - despite clear protections in the Delaware Constitution, the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Supreme Court decisions and recent rulings by lower courts that have found similar bans to be unconstitutional.
Dredging
Dredging: Political grandstanding, 'hoax" lawsuits and more The Army Corps of Engineers has been dredging the Delaware River since the 1800s, when the river was 18-feet deep. The current 40-foot depth has been maintained regularly since World War II. If parts of the 103-mile shipping channel are dredged to 45 feet, many believe the increase in traffic will create more jobs throughout the region, in addition to safeguarding the jobs already here. DNREC v. Corps of Engineers, District Court complaint Read the complaint filed Oct. 30 by the Attorney General's Office against the Corps of Engineers. Judge: Delaware sat on its hands regarding Corps of Engineers dredging proposal The State of Delaware asked District Court Judge Sue Robinson Tuesday for an injunction that would halt the Army Corps of Engineers' controversial plan to deepen the Delaware River from 40 to 45 feet.
Rogue Force
Retaliation begins against 42 inmate whistleblowers at SCI After 42 inmates at the Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown came forward telling state officials they witnessed an unprovoked assault by three guards on one inmate - an attack which they say was started by the guards - retaliation has begun against the whistleblowers. More than 40 inmates document unprovoked attack on inmate by guards at SCI Witnesses ask Attorney General Beau Biden, Correction Commissioner Carl Danberg, ACLU, NAACP to protect them from abuse and retaliation. Attorney General Beau Biden's Office trying to silence prison critic As Attorney General Beau Biden was being welcomed home Wednesday from a one-year tour in Iraq at a ceremony in Dover, his office was busy working damage control, trying to contain the ever-widening prison scandal and silence its critics. Abuse of Power Continues in Delaware's Prison System Gianfranco Carta suffers intense pain, nightmares and crippling anxiety attacks from the treatment he received Sept. 29 during an overnight stay at the Sussex Correctional Institution. AG's Office calls off its second attempt to curb Free Speech Attorney General Beau Biden's Office balked, the second time in as many weeks, in its latest attempt to restrict the First Amendment rights of a well-respected Department of Correction critic. Monitoring Agreement between Joshua Martin and the State of Delaware. Letter to the U.S. Department of Justice As revealed by the previous U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) investigation that led to the 2006 Memorandum of Agreement, Delaware officials have a disappointing record of effectively investigating prison system abuses. For the many reasons delineated in this letter, we respectfully ask that the U.S. Department of Justice reopen its investigation of Delaware's efforts to provide adequate healthcare to its prison population, including the reported neglect that led to the loss of Mr. Sudler's legs and Mr. Kern's life. We further urge the USDOJ to launch an additional probe into the charges of abuse at SCI. Joint hearings shows how Sen. Bruce Ennis, D-Smyrna, who chairs the Senate's Adult and Juvenile Corrections Committee, proposed to hold joint hearings with the House Corrections Committee, to investigate allegations of inmate abuse and shoddy medical care revealed in CRI's special report "Rogue Force." Lawmakers appeal for federal investigation of state's prison system Six state legislators have asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate shoddy inmate medical care and criminal allegations of abuse and neglect in Delaware's prison system. The lawmakers based their two-pronged request on a series of reports the Caesar Rodney Institute launched seven weeks ago, which revealed allegations of abuse by corrections officers at the Sussex Correctional Institution (SCI) and medical neglect throughout the system. Letter To All Public Officials , Sen. Bonini, R-Dover South, calls for a special prosecutor, the empaneling of an investigative grand jury, new legislation and investigations into the problems revealed in "Rogue Force." "Always and forever your son, Daniel" examines the Sept. 15 death of Daniel Kern, who died from an illness that should have been easy to diagnose and treat. Kern had complained of severe abdominal pain for months, but the Department of Correction did little more than watch him die. Kern's family says he was denied care by the Department of Correction because he was gay. Circling the Wagons reveals how the state is not addressing issues of abuse and poor medical care in the prison system. Prison monitor says state not in compliance The Delaware Department of Correction will not meet its deadline to improve inmate health care before the Memorandum of Agreement with the US Department of Justice expires at the end of the year. Rogue Force reveals how guards at the Sussex Correctional Institution (SCI) in Georgetown are physically abusing inmates in their care. This story shows how the Department of Correction often fails to investigate or even track excessive force by prison guards, and how Delaware taxpayers ultimately bear the brunt of this misconduct. Beaten and Released tells the story of Laurel small businessman David Sully, who claims guards at SCI nearly beat him to death in June. Violating the Agreement reveals how the state is breaking its promise with the U.S. Justice Department to improve inmate medical care, after federal prison regulators determined that this poor quality medical care was violating the civil rights of state inmates. The state is not providing training required in the settlement agreement. Lawmaker calls for hearings, criminal probe of CMS One lawmaker is proposing changes to the system to insure Kern's death is not repeated. He also wants someone held accountable for the death. Sen. Colin Bonini, R-Dover South, has already sent letters to state officials calling for a special prosecutor, the empanelling of an investigative grand jury, investigations, audits and new legislation as a result of the findings presented in "Rogue Force." The Man with No Legs tells the story of Benjamin Sudler, whose legs were amputated because his diabetes was neither treated nor monitored by the prison's medical staff. Solutions offers one nationally-known prison expert's suggestions on how the state can fix its prison system, along with recommendations from the Caesar Rodney Institute. Monitoring the Monitor shows how the state is concealing the costs of its prison monitor, and questions the efficacy of the system. An Open Letter To Carl Danberg poses 32 questions it had hoped the Correction Commissioner would answer. Danberg refused to comment for this series. About this Report