Robb Harvey

19 Jan, 2015

Tennessee Supreme Court agrees to hear public records case involving police files

By |2015-01-19T10:30:15-06:00January 19, 2015|Categories: crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments

The Tennessee Supreme Court has granted the application of The Tennessean and other media organizations to appeal a Court of Appeals decision regarding what police records are exempt from the Tennessee Public Records Act. In a Sept. 30 ruling, the Court of Appeals said that Criminal Court Rule 16(a)(2) acts as an exemption to allow police to withhold records relevant to an ongoing investigation. The opinion was written by Judge Richard Dinkins and joined by Judge Frank G. Clement Jr. and reversed a trial court ruling that police must release some records. A dissent was written by Judge Neal McBrayer, who said that the criminal court rule exempted some records, [...]

13 Jan, 2015

The Tennessean gives state Tuesday deadline to fulfill July public records request

By |2015-01-13T12:58:59-06:00January 13, 2015|Categories: requests|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

The Tennessean gave the state a Tuesday deadline to fulfill a public records request it originally made in July last year as it considers asking a court to intervene, the newspaper reported today. The news organization had requested from TennCare emails and documents related to the state's massive Medicaid debacle in which it could not properly process applications despite buying a $35.7 million new computer system. (The backlog led to a federal lawsuit, and the agency yesterday said it was firing its vendor Northrop Grumman, and hiring another one.) After narrowing the request in September, the newspaper got an estimate of $4,139.56 for costs to compile and copy the records, which [...]

1 Dec, 2014

Request to appeal Vanderbilt records case aims to settle what police can withhold from public

By |2014-12-01T10:00:12-06:00December 1, 2014|Categories: crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments

The Tennessean, seven other media outlets, the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters and Tennessee Coalition for Open Government have filed a request with the Tennessee Supreme Court to appeal a lower court's ruling concerning what police can withhold from public view. The Court of Appeals in Nashville in a Sept. 30 ruling said that if a local law enforcement agency claims information is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation, that information can be exempt from the Tennessee Public Records Act. Appellate Judge Neal McBrayer dissented, saying the specific police information requested in The Tennessean's case did not fall under a previously recognized exemption that protects some, but not all, information in a [...]

11 Jun, 2014

Court of Appeals considers access to crime records in Tennessee

By |2021-02-02T10:35:57-06:00June 11, 2014|Categories: crime records, investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

By Deborah Fisher, TCOG Executive Director Spectators packed the courtroom June 9 for oral arguments in the appeal of the public records case, The Tennessean et al v. Metro Government of Nashville. The petition was brought by The Tennessean and a media coalition after it requested to see crime records collected by police concerning an alleged rape at Vanderbilt University, and were denied access. So many people filled the rows of the appellate court that it prompted Judge Frank G. Clement to make a light note that the court usually doesn’t draw such a crowd. But the room quickly grew serious as lawyers began their arguments and the three appellate judges [...]

9 Apr, 2014

Coalition asks appeals court to affirm records ruling in Vanderbilt rape case

By |2014-04-10T06:47:34-05:00April 9, 2014|Categories: crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

The Tennessean and a coalition of others have asked the Court of Appeals to affirm a recent trial court's ruling that found no "blanket" exemption to the Tennessee Public Records Act for crime records during a pending criminal case. The open records lawsuit against Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County started with a public records request by The Tennessean that included text messages received or sent by third party sources in the Vanderbilt rape case. Metro Government denied those records, citing Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(a)(2), which bars discovery of certain law enforcement material during an active criminal prosecution. The Tennessean was joined in the petition by 10 other media [...]

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