open meetings lawsuits Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

19 Dec, 2022

Private meetings on Chattanooga redistricting violated open meetings law, lawsuit alleges
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Private meetings on Chattanooga redistricting violated open meetings law, lawsuit alleges

open meetings lawsuits

Private meetings on Chattanooga redistricting violated open meetings law, lawsuit alleges

By Deborah Fisher|2023-01-02T17:00:37-06:00December 19, 2022|Categories: open meetings lawsuits|Tags: Chattanooga, Chattanooga City Council, litigation, private meetings, public notice, redistricting, Times Free Press|2 Comments

A redistricting committee made up of Chattanooga city councilmembers violated the open meetings act when it convened privately to make decisions and deliberate on the city's new voting district maps, a lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit by the Chattanooga Times Free Press also alleges that councilmembers violated the open meetings act when the city's executive staff, at the request of the redistricting committee, met individually with council members to decide on the contours of each of their new districts.

29 Jul, 2022

Court of Appeals whittles away public notice protections of open meeting law
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Court of Appeals whittles away public notice protections of open meeting law

adequate public notice, open meetings lawsuits

Court of Appeals whittles away public notice protections of open meeting law

By Deborah Fisher|2023-04-11T11:01:48-05:00July 29, 2022|Categories: adequate public notice, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: adequate notice, agendas, Court of Appeals, Dickson County Commission, Judge Andy Bennett, open meetings, planning commission, Titan Partners|0 Comments

A Tennessee Court of Appeals rolled back the meaning of the open meetings law in a surprising ruling when it said that a governing body does not have to give public notice of an important upcoming vote as part of its agenda, even when the vote is on an issue of widespread community interest.

14 Jun, 2022

Judge declines to issue order allowing press to cover Judicial Conference
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Judge declines to issue order allowing press to cover Judicial Conference

Open Courts, open meetings lawsuits

Judge declines to issue order allowing press to cover Judicial Conference

By Deborah Fisher|2022-06-16T08:28:58-05:00June 14, 2022|Categories: Open Courts, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: Administrative Office of the Courts, Buck Dougherty, court access, First Amendment, Janet Kleinfelter, Liberty Justice Center, Rachel Harmon, Tennessee Judicial Conference, The Center Media, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr.|0 Comments

A federal judge declined on Tuesday to issue a temporary restraining order requested by a media organization that wanted to cover the Tennessee Judicial Conference annual meeting after getting assurances from a deputy attorney general that the meeting to take place on Wednesday was only an educational "CLE for judges."

13 Jun, 2022

Center Square lawsuit says blanket closure of judicial conference violates First Amendment

By Deborah Fisher|2022-06-15T06:40:32-05:00June 13, 2022|Categories: Open Courts, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: Administrative Office of the Courts, Center Square, court access, First Amendment, Michelle Long, Tennessee Judicial Conference|0 Comments

A national news organization with operations in Tennessee has filed a federal lawsuit against the director of Tennessee's court administration, claiming the blanket closure of upcoming judicial conference meetings violates First Amendment rights of access to courts.

10 Jun, 2022

TN Supreme Court: Political party executive committees not subject to open meetings law

By Deborah Fisher|2022-06-14T11:01:47-05:00June 10, 2022|Categories: open meetings lawsuits|Tags: Justice Jeffrey S. Bivins, political parties, Robby Starbuck, Tennessee Republican Party|0 Comments

The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled Friday that the open meetings law applies to political parties' primary boards, but not their executive committees when the committees are determining the "bona fides" of a potential candidate.