The Tennessee Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case in which a lower court judge refused to unseal court records in a test of the First Amendment right of access by the public to court proceedings and court documents.
The Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled that an audio recording of a trial made by the court reporter is part of the court record and a public record subject to the state public records law. The ruling overturns a lower court decision that had upheld an East Tennessee judge's refusal to give a convicted killer the audio recording of his murder trial.
Detailed data in the state's opioid lawsuit illustrate how Purdue Pharma continued to push its most profitable drug OxyContin to high-volume providers in Tennessee despite evidence that those providers were misusing or allowing misuse of the drug, according to the state's unsealed court filing. An OxyContin tablet In one instance, Purdue called on two providers 48 times after being flagged by law enforcement; in another case, Purdue made sales calls 31 times to a provider whose license was on probation because of issues related to his high prescribing of controlled substances. The lawsuit references a wealth of evidence collected by the state to back its allegations that Purdue [...]
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma has withdrawn its motion for a protective order to conceal parts of the state of Tennessee's lawsuit against it that contains allegations and evidence of unlawful conduct. The state's attorney general filed its 274-page lawsuit under temporary seal, but argued the seal should be lifted within 10 days. Purdue then filed a motion for a protective order to seal parts of the lawsuit, claiming specific information in it were trade secrets that could harm its competitive position if revealed. Purdue Pharma headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. TCOG was permitted to intervene in the case, along with Knoxville News Sentinel Editor Jack McElroy, to oppose efforts [...]
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 [...]
