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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (March 21, 2012)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM M ARCH 21, 2012 S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON V OLUME XXXIV, N O . 12 25 CENTS For The Skanner news alerts Text "NEWS" to 503-715-0890 or scan this QR code C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW DET. COOKIE’S CHESS CLUB Killer Soldier Case Lawyer questions evidence, plans own Afghan investigation PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED By John Milburn The Associated Press Fabian 5, gets some pointers from Seattle Police Officer Denise Bouldin, aka Detective Cookie, at the weekly meeting of Detective Cookie’s Urban Youth Chess Club at the Rainier Beach Branch Library. The chess club meets from noon to 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoons. Asking for Facebook Passwords? Unethical employers are getting away with invasion of privacy Manuel Valdes and Shannon McFarland The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — When Justin Bassett interviewed for a new job, he expected the usual questions about experience and references. So he was aston- ished when the interviewer asked for something else: his Facebook username and pass- word. Bassett, a New York City stat- istician, had just finished answering a few character ques- tions when the interviewer turned to her computer to search for his Facebook page. But she couldn’t see his private profile. She turned back and asked him to hand over his login informa- tion. Bassett refused and withdrew his application, saying he didn’t want to work for a company that would seek such personal infor- mation. But as the job market steadily improves, other job candidates are confronting the same question from prospective employers, and some of them INDEX News .....................2,3,8 Calendar ....................2 Opinion ....................4,5 Bids/Classifieds.........6-7 cannot afford to say no. In their efforts to vet appli- cants, some companies and gov- ernment agencies are going beyond merely glancing at a person’s social networking pro- files and instead asking to log in as the user to have a look around. “It’s akin to requiring some- one’s house keys,” said Orin Kerr, a George Washington Uni- versity law professor and for- mer federal prosecutor who calls it “an egregious privacy violation.” Questions have been raised about the legality of the prac- tice, which is also the focus of proposed legislation in Illinois and Maryland that would forbid public agencies from asking for access to social networks. Since the rise of social net- working, it has become com- mon for managers to review publically available Facebook profiles, Twitter accounts and other sites to learn more about job candidates. But many users, especially on Facebook, have See JOBS on page 3 FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — The lawyer for the Army staff sergeant sus- pected of killing 16 Afghan civilians ques- tioned Tuesday the quality of the evidence against his client and said he planned to travel to Afghanistan to gather his own. John Henry Browne said he met with Robert Bales for 11 hours over two days at Fort Leavenworth, where his client is being held. He added that there was still a lot he didn’t know about the March 11 shootings. “I don’t know about the evidence in this case. I don’t know that the government is going to prove much. There’s no forensic evidence. There’s no confessions,” Browne said outside his hotel near the post. “I’m certainly not saying that we’re not taking responsibility for this in the right way, at the right time. But for now, I’m interested in what the evidence is,” he said. “It’s not like a crime scene in the United States.” Browne said there were legal, social and political issues linked to the case and how it will be prosecuted. “The war’s on trial. I’m not putting the war on trial,” he said. “I’m not putting the war on trial, but the war is on trial.” Bales, 38, has not been charged yet. Browne expects that he will be charged this week. The killings sparked protests in Afghanistan, endangered relations between the two countries and threatened to upend American policy over the decade-old war. Browne met with his client behind bars for the first time Monday to begin building a defense. On Tuesday, Browne described Bales as “a soldier’s soldier” who followed orders, including deploying to Afghanistan despite not wanting to go. Bales has been reported to have had financial troubles. “That doesn’t mean anything. Sure, there are financial problems. I have financial See SOLDIER on page 3 Another Million for Homeless Programs Additional funds will help Seattle run three housing projects T he City of Seattle and King County have been awarded $968,902 in new funds to support the operating costs for three homeless housing projects in Seat- tle, bringing the total amount awarded to our region for 2012 federal homeless assis- tance awards to well over $22 million. King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn announced the local McKinney-Vento Homeless Assis- tance Awards following the U.S. Depart- ment of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announcement of nationwide awards. “These new funds will create permanent housing for the homeless – two new six- story buildings in Northgate and South Lake Union – and expand supportive services,” said King County Executive Dow Constan- tine, co-chair of the Committee to End Homelessness. “For the federal government to award this region more funds, on top of the grants it already renewed in December, validates the strength of our partnerships and our shared commitment to create affordable housing linked to needed servic- es.” “These grants are crucial to the city’s See GRANT on page 3
