crime records Archives - Page 17 of 19 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

9 Apr, 2014

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

crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee

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

By Deborah Fisher|2014-04-10T06:47:34-05:00April 9, 2014|Categories: crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: crime records, litigation, Robb Harvey, The Tennessean, Vanderbilt rape case|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 [...]

9 Apr, 2014

Johnson City Press: Closing sexual assault records a slippery slope

By Deborah Fisher|2014-04-09T16:37:18-05:00April 9, 2014|Categories: crime records, Legislature|Tags: crime records, legislature, Open Records Act exemptions, sexual assault records|0 Comments

Robert Houk, Opinion page editor for the Johnson City Press, looks at one of the top legislative priorities of the state's law enforcement this year -- closing records related to sexual assault -- and notes the slippery slope when police start advocating to make crime records confidential. His column is reprinted here with permission: Balancing the public’s right to know and personal privacy is not an easy job. It is something we in the news business struggle with every day. Most of the time we get it right. Occasionally, however, we have gotten it horribly wrong. What we don’t need is the Tennessee General Assembly messing with the state’s public [...]

3 Apr, 2014

Bill allowing anonymity to sexual assault victims moves forward

By Deborah Fisher|2014-04-09T16:38:53-05:00April 3, 2014|Categories: crime records, Legislature|Tags: crime records, legislature, Open Records Act exemptions, sexual assault records|0 Comments

From Tom Humphrey's Humphrey on Hill blog on the sexual assault victims bill: After being narrowed from its original scope, legislation to keep some information about rape victims from the public advanced in both the House and Senate on Wednesday. As introduced, the bill by Sen. Becky Massey of Knoxville and Rep. Mary Littleton of Dickson, would have made confidential all identifying information about the victim of a sexual assault from the outset of an investigation by law enforcement into the crime. With amendments since then, the bill (HB2361) would apply only after a defendant had been found guilty either by trial or plea agreement and only keep confidential the name, address, [...]

28 Mar, 2014

TCOG testifies on bill to make sexual assault victims confidential

By Deborah Fisher|2014-04-14T18:35:45-05:00March 28, 2014|Categories: crime records, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: crime records, legislature, Open Records Act exemptions, sexual assault records|0 Comments

Tennessee Coalition for Open Government's executive director Deborah Fisher offered testimony to the House State Government Committee Tuesday pointing out how proposed legislation to redact the names of sexual assault victims from crime records could reduce the media's ability to report on sexual assault crimes. The House State Government Committee passed the bill, which had been amended by the sponsors from its original version to apply only to cases in which there is a conviction or guilty plea. The bill also allows individual victims to sign a written waiver to opt out of the law's confidentiality requirements. Fisher noted stories by Tennessee media in which public records were used to [...]

22 Mar, 2014

Citizens should have access to crime records

By Deborah Fisher|2014-04-09T16:29:34-05:00March 22, 2014|Categories: crime records|Tags: crime records, legislature, sexual assault records|0 Comments

Last week in a House subcommittee a police chief expressed alarm that anyone could come in to his department and get access to crime records after a case is closed. He was testifying in support of a bill that would make victims of sexual assault crimes anonymous after the case is over. The proposal would exempt their names and any other potentially identifying information from the Tennessee’s Open Records Act. I applaud that police chief for his stated adherence to Tennessee’s laws, which give any Tennessee citizen access to local law enforcement’s investigations into a crime after the case is over or prosecution is ended. But unlike the chief, I’m [...]