Tennessee Association of Broadcasters Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

25 Oct, 2017

Broadcasters association advises Open Records Counsel that blanket ban on photos of public records is unreasonable, inefficient

By Deborah Fisher|2017-10-26T04:11:27-05:00October 25, 2017|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel, Public Records|Tags: Doug Pierce, Lee Pope, photos of public records, Tennessee Association of Broadcasters|1 Comment

The Tennessee Association of Broadcasters has added its voice to the growing number of entities who have urged the Office of Open Records Counsel to revise its Model Public Records Policy to eliminate the option of a blanket ban on taking photos of public records. Doug Pierce with King & Ballow The Office of Open Records Counsel's model policy includes language that several government entities have adopted into their own policies and practices that would ban someone from taking a photo of a non-exempt public record with their cell phone or camera. The broadcasters association, along with the League of Women Voters of Tennessee, the Tennessee Press Association [...]

24 Apr, 2017

Proposed rule change could erode access to court records, lawyers say

By Deborah Fisher|2017-04-25T07:44:42-05:00April 24, 2017|Categories: court records|Tags: court records, Doug Pierce, John Williams, Rick Hollow, Robb Harvey, Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, Tennessee Bar Association, Tennessee Supreme Court|0 Comments

Some of the state’s leading news media attorneys are concerned that a proposed expansion of rules on public access to court records in Tennessee is overly broad and could erode access at the trial court level. The proposed change to the Tennessee Supreme Court rules would expand exemptions to the lower courts with language that one lawyer says is "vague to the point of potential constitutional infirmity." (Gavel illustration by www.weisspaarz.com, licensed under CC BY SA-2.0) The Tennessee Supreme Court has proposed changing Rule 34 “Policies and Guidelines Regarding Appellate Judicial Records,” which defines certain court records not open for inspection, such as unpublished drafts of judicial orders and [...]

11 Aug, 2015

Broadcasters, others comment on Rule 30 proposal

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T07:12:56-05:00August 11, 2015|Categories: Open Courts|Tags: court coverage, courtroom access, courts, Jack McElroy, Rule 30, Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, Tennessee Bar Association|0 Comments

Deborah Tate, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, and Michele Wojciechowski, spokesperson for the AOC, address the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists in April about proposed changes to Rule 30, which governs media coverage in courtrooms. Moderated by WPLN's Blake Farmer, chapter president. Tennessee broadcasters and others have filed comments with the Tennessee Supreme Court on its proposed changes to Rule 30, which governs media coverage in courtrooms. The deadline to file comments is this Friday. The court so far has posted on its website 11 comments on the Rule 30 proposal submitted from organizations and individuals, including: Tennessee Association of Broadcasters WMC Action 5 [...]

11 Jun, 2014

Court of Appeals considers access to crime records in Tennessee
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Court of Appeals considers access to crime records in Tennessee

crime records, investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee

Court of Appeals considers access to crime records in Tennessee

By Deborah Fisher|2021-02-02T10:35:57-06:00June 11, 2014|Categories: crime records, investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Doug Pierce, Frank G. Clement Jr., Janet Kleinfelter, Maria De Varenne, Nashville, Richard Dinkins, Rick Hollow, Robb Harvey, Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, Tennessee Press Association, The Tennessean, Vanderbilt rape case, W. Neal McBrayer|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 [...]

3 Jun, 2014

Newspapers, broadcasters file amicus briefs in public records case

By Deborah Fisher|2014-09-12T15:00:59-05:00June 3, 2014|Categories: crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, Tennessee Press Association, Vanderbilt rape case|0 Comments

The Tennessee Association of Broadcasters and the Tennessee Press Association have both filed amicus briefs in the public records case on appeal involving police files of the Vanderbilt rape case. Representing broad swaths of media throughout the state, both make arguments that any exemption to the Tennessee Public Records Act created by the Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(a)(2) is limited to records not discoverable by the defense under the rule. The rule governs what categories of police evidence the defense in a criminal trial is entitled to see, and what evidence they are not entitled to see. But in the years following a 1987 Tennessee Supreme Court Decision, Appman v. [...]