Open Courts Archives - Page 3 of 7 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

2 Jun, 2020

TCOG, 55 others ask TN Supreme Court to protect open courts during COVID-19

By Deborah Fisher|2020-06-02T11:30:01-05:00June 2, 2020|Categories: Open Courts, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: COVID-19, electronic meetings, judicial districts, Tennessee Supreme Court|1 Comment

The joint petition to the Tennessee Supreme Court asks the court to use its emergency powers to protect public and media access to court proceedings during COVID-19. Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and 55 other organizations and people ranging from news media to criminal justice groups to First Amendment experts have filed a petition with the Tennessee Supreme Court asking the court to take "immediate steps to protect the public's Constitutional and common law right of access to court proceedings" during the COVID-19 epidemic. Few of the 30 judicial district plans submitted and approved by the Supreme Court provide "any reasonable level of compliance" with the constitutional right of access, [...]

13 May, 2020

Most Tennessee COVID-19 court plans offer no provisions for public, media access

By Deborah Fisher|2020-07-14T11:17:18-05:00May 13, 2020|Categories: Open Courts|Tags: COVID-19, electronic meetings, judicial districts, Tennessee Supreme Court|1 Comment

Davidson County Chancellor Ellen H. Lyle (upper right in this April 30 proceeding) has a YouTube channel to stream electronic proceedings and gives the public information on how to access it. However, a review of 26 Judicial District COVID-19 plans shows that most courts in Tennessee have not provided plans on allowing public or press access to either in-person proceedings going forward or electronic proceedings. Most judicial districts that have submitted COVID-19 plans to the Tennessee Supreme Court to resume in-person proceedings — and increase electronic proceedings — offer no guidance on how their courts will operate transparently and openly going forward. A review of 26 judicial plans shows that [...]

24 Apr, 2020

In-person court proceedings can resume with certain safeguards and approval

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T13:15:55-05:00April 24, 2020|Categories: Open Courts|Tags: courts, COVID-19, Justice Jeffrey S. Bivins|1 Comment

In what seems to be becoming a pattern with big announcements, Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee shared news of the order first on twitter on Friday morning. The order was posted on the court's website a few hours later. The Tennessee Supreme Court issued an order today modifying its earlier suspension of in-person court proceedings, providing a pathway for in-person court proceedings to resume. The court on March 13 declared a state of emergency for the judicial branch of government in Tennessee, and suspended most in-person court proceedings with some exceptions. (The order was updated March 25.) "Since that time, the State of Tennessee and its citizens have made [...]

5 Oct, 2018

Tennessee Supreme Court begins video of oral arguments

By Deborah Fisher|2018-10-05T11:36:51-05:00October 5, 2018|Categories: Open Courts|Tags: Justice Jeffrey S. Bivins, meeting videotape, Tennessee Supreme Court|0 Comments

Tennessee Supreme Court Justices: Chief Justice Jeffrey S. Bivins, seated; standing from left, Justice Holly Kirby, Justice Cornelia A. Clark, Justice Sharon G. Lee, and Justice Roger A. Page. The Tennessee Supreme Court this week began a new program to videotape oral arguments of its cases and to post them on its website for the public to see. This follows the Court's initiative to make audio recordings of oral arguments available on the website beginning five years ago. “There has been too much mystique about the Supreme Court for too long,” Chief Justice Jeff Bivins said in a press release. “This Supreme Court is committed to openness and [...]

5 Jul, 2018

State’s lawsuit against Purdue Pharma – unsealed

By Deborah Fisher|2018-07-12T11:54:13-05:00July 5, 2018|Categories: court records, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|0 Comments

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 [...]