Legislature

7 Mar, 2024

Interview on keeping state tourism information confidential

By |2024-03-07T08:57:27-06:00March 7, 2024|Categories: Legislature|0 Comments

The state tourism department is pushing a bill to give its commissioner authority to pick and choose which records are open to the public We think taxpayers deserve to know how their money is spent. Allowing secret deals opens the door to cronyism and corruption. NewsChannel 5 covered this controversial bill.

8 Feb, 2024

State tourism department bill seeks sweeping exemption to public records law

By |2024-02-09T09:27:05-06:00February 8, 2024|Categories: economic development, Legislature|0 Comments

Gov. Bill Lee’s administration is seeking a sweeping exemption to the public records law that would close any public records of the Tennessee Department of Tourism Development if the commissioner determines that the information is too "sensitive" to release. The exemption would most likely hide information about outcomes related to its marketing efforts.

7 Feb, 2024

Autopsies of murdered children would become confidential under bill passed by subcommittee

By |2024-02-07T08:36:45-06:00February 7, 2024|Categories: crime records, Legislature, Public Records|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

Autopsies of murdered children would become confidential under a bill that passed a House subcommittee on Tuesday. TCOG testified against the bill, noting examples of when journalists, often working with extended family members, used autopsies to shine light on coverups and mistakes, including a child shot in head by Memphis police in a botched housing raid and child killed by his mother's boyfriend in Columbia.

3 Jan, 2024

Judge rules expenses related to legislative intern harassment exempt from public records law

By |2024-01-03T17:02:01-06:00January 3, 2024|Categories: Legislature, public records lawsuits Tennessee, state records|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments

A Nashville judge said the expenses related to harassment of a 19-year-old legislative intern by then-state lawmaker Scotty Campbell are exempt from the public records law based on a House rule and a policy on workplace harassment. But Chancellor Russell Perkins refused to buy the state's broad argument that the General Assembly is exempt from the public records law.

26 Aug, 2023

Sexton faces First Amendment lawsuit for rule that led to expelling women for holding small signs

By |2023-08-26T15:28:37-05:00August 26, 2023|Categories: Legislature|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

State House Speaker Cameron Sexton faces a First Amendment lawsuit over House rules that bar members of the public from holding signs, including those on 8.5x11 pieces of paper, in committee rooms. Three women were kicked out for continuing hold their signs during a House Civil Justice subcommittee meeting that was hearing various public safety bills during the special session.

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