GOOD SHEPHERD?
Life was not fictional thriller for the wife of a fired CIA operative who filed suit in federal court in Manhattan against the agency because she was prevented from going to counseling for fear she’d reveal secret information about her husband’s job. But it won’t go to trial. The New York Post reports that government lawyers convinced Southern District Judge Laura Taylor Swain to dismiss the lawsuit because it would “jeopardize national security” if it went forward. The couple’s names have been redacted, as were details about what the woman’s husband did for the CIA. But the Post says “what's left are the woman's claims that she and her husband became sick and depressed - and were forced to move to a foreign country - after he was ‘summarily separated from his CIA employment’ for ‘unspecified reasons.’” The suit charges that the agency told the woman she couldn’t receive therapy, and then provided no alternative treatment. Also…”Former CIA Director Porter Goss, a defendant in the case, filed an affidavit claiming the facts surrounding the suit are so sensitive, he could not even explain why the information is classified.”

UNMARRIED DIVORCE
We don’t think  you’re married – but sure,  you can get a divorce (of sorts) … Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Phyllis Gangel-Jacob ruled a gay couple’s separation agreement valid, even though she decided that their February 2005 marriage in Massachusetts was null and void. The New York Law Journal (registration required) reports that Gangel-Jacob found that the couple’s separation agreement was valid under the New York Court of Appeals’ recent decision barring same-sex marriage. Hernandez v. Robles does not invalidate established principles of contract law. “The theory . . . is that while cohabitation without marriage does not give rise to the property and financial rights which normally attend the marital relation,” Gangel-Jacob wrote, “Neither does cohabitation disable the parties from making an agreement within the normal rules of contract law.”

TRANSPORT ETHICS
They dress themselves, they feed themselves, and they can even drive themselves! The New York Times says that city officials are struggling with travel policies in the wake of the State Comptroller Alan Hevesi scandal. In a lede, Sam Roberts notes that: "One public official left her city car, driver and bodyguard in the city and hired a car service to take her to visit a friend in northern Westchester, and got lost. Two days later, the city car, driver and bodyguard arrived to take her from the friend’s home to Albany for the governor’s inauguration. Another city official drove himself in his own car to the inauguration, where he met up with the New York City police security detail assigned to guard him." One of the issues raised by the story is security – should officials who have a police bodyguard in the city should get a car and driver when venturing outside of the Gotham’s confines? Should they reimburse the government if, say, while riding in a city car between work engagements, they decide to swing a detour for a snack? Apparently, the answers aren’t there. The city comptroller maintains a 75-page directive on travel, meals and lodgings, but it doesn’t “get down to specifics on ethics.” In the last two years, City Comptroller William Thompson has shelled out nearly $45,000 to reimburse the city for travel costs in his official car.

FREEDOM TO DRIVE
According to the Gotham Gazette, many New Yorkers who lack immigration status could possibly secure drivers licenses in the future. Norman Eng and Milan Bhatt write about a possible new proposal on drivers licenses from the new governor. You can access that report here.