Photo by Dan Dan the Binary Man

Good morning, Washington. Virginia Delegate Robert Marshall has gotten plenty of heat from liberals recently—he’s the guy who spearheaded many of the commonwealth’s recent laws restricting abortion, after all. But The Washington Times reports that he’s authored a bill that should likely please many leftists and civil libertarians. His bill, which was approved by a Virginia Senate committee, would stop commonwealth agencies from participating in federal government operations to detain U.S. citizens under the provisions of a controversial new law signed by President Obama. The National Defense Authorization Act is thought to allow the U.S. military to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens on American soil.

Metro Knew of Brake Problems, Did Little: The last thing you want failing on your daily commute is the brakes on Metro. But those sorts of failures have been expected and known about by the transit agency, which did little about them for years. The Post reports that Metro officials were aware as early as 2006 that certain brake disc hubs were failing before they were supposed to, and that 184 rail cars are currently in operation with those exact parts. According to a Metro report, officials were aware of the problem but either didn’t have money to replace the parts or were so consumed with the aftermath of the 2009 Red Line crash to get the work done. The problem became especially acute in December and January, when brake parts fell off of two trains that were in operation.

Investigation Into Cheating on D.C. Standardized Tests Widens: Some 60 classrooms are being investigated for cheating on D.C. standardized tests in 2011, up from 18 the year prior, reports the Examiner. Of those 60 classrooms, 36 were flagged by DCPS officials, another 24 by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education; the classrooms are spread over 30 schools. The original investigation into possible cheating was uncovered last year, when an unusually high number of standardized tests were found to have incorrect answers erased and large jumps in scores.

Dirty Little Parking Secrets Exposed: Well, this is one secret that is a secret no longer. WTOP reports that some D.C. residents and commuters have long parked for free at metered spots at the Thompson Boat House between Georgetown and Foggy Bottom because U.S. Park Police don’t often enforce parking rules on the small plot of federal land. But after the dirty little parking secret was revealed on a widely read email newsletter yesterday, the Park Police went out in force—of 70 cars in the lot, 54 had received a $25 ticket.

Briefly Noted: Occupiers still at McPherson Square (well, kind of) … Maryland again debating repealing the death penalty … Leslie Johnson goes to prison today … MoCo Council votes to have Capital Crescent Trail cross Wisconsin Avenue … More suspicious letters arrive in D.C. … Metro has had its fair share of controversial ads … New D.C. law allows for more solar power … Maryland Senate approves tax hike.

This Day in DCist: On this in 2011, Kaya Henderson was promoted to the top job within D.C. public schools. In 2010, the first same-sex couple was married in D.C. and Kwame Brown promised to pay a $100 ticket after he was towed.