A citizen who won a public records lawsuit against the Knox County Sheriff has asked an appeals court for a rehearing on a ruling that vacated the trial court's award of about $58,000 in attorney's fees and expenses.
The Tennessean covered the arguments before the Court of Appeals Monday concerning an exemption to the Tennessee Public Records Act passed in 2013 that makes the source of execution drugs confidential. Lawyers for death row inmates sought to have the source revealed to them so they could examine whether the source was safe and legal, and whether it would violate inmate rights to be free of cruel and unusual punishment. Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman ordered the information released to the lawyers under seal. The state is appealing Bonnyman's ruling. An excerpt from reporter Brian Haas' story: The appeals panel Monday seemed skeptical of Hixson's arguments, pressing him on whether the 2013 law applied [...]