Editorial: Time to release the Bird report

Nassau County's failure to pay $7.7 million to the children of murder victim Jo'Anna Bird has taken a bizarre twist.

The County Legislature later this week will ask a federal judge to require the county attorney to turn over a confidential internal police report. That's ridiculous.

The legislature is entitled to see how the department responded to the calls by Bird to enforce an order of protection against her former boyfriend, now serving a life sentence for her death. That's because it's the legislature that must approve the settlement and authorize the borrowing to pay for it. To do that, it must determine whether the county's culpability justifies such a large payment. The legislature's oversight responsibility also requires it to ensure the police department changes the procedures and personnel that led to Bird's lawsuit.

County attorney John Ciampoli claims that he is barred by a court order restricting the document to "the parties in the litigation." His cramped view means that the only defendant in the case is the office of county executive, not the legislature, not even behind closed doors.

But there are really only two sides here: the children who lost their mother and need the funds, and the taxpayers of Nassau County who are paying the bill. Ciampoli is doing justice to neither of them.

Judge Arthur Spatt should cut the nonsense and give the legislature the police report. Better still, County Executive Edward Mangano should tell his county attorney do it.