Public Records

5 Jan, 2023

Judge puts the brakes on state’s use of deliberative process privilege

By |2023-01-05T14:50:58-06:00January 5, 2023|Categories: deliberative process privilege, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

Davidson County Chancellor Pat Moskal ruled that the state could not withhold consultant reports by McKinsey and Co. under a deliberative process privilege in the face of a public records request. She said the reports were a one-way communication with state officials and did not fall under a deliberative process privilege because they were not "deliberative" and did not consist of communications between high-level government officials. The ruling is a win for journalist Stephen Elliott, who began requesting the reports in 2020.

30 Dec, 2022

State should address secretive culture around lethal injection drugs

By |2023-01-02T16:31:45-06:00December 30, 2022|Categories: execution drugs|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

An independent investigation of the state's secret handling of lethal injection drugs shows it did not follow state protocols for testing the materials. The state should fix this and address the secrecy about lethal injection drugs going forward.

21 Oct, 2022

Dispatch call on Elvis death left the building, left a mystery

By |2023-01-02T17:08:47-06:00October 21, 2022|Categories: Public Records, records management|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

A recording of the emergency communications of the Memphis Fire Department when Elvis Presley was found dead in 1977 has emerged in a Memphis karate shop and museum. But the fire department itself claims not to have the recording, which would be a public record.

30 Aug, 2022

Court of Appeals: Trial audio recording a public record

By |2023-01-02T16:52:59-06:00August 30, 2022|Categories: court records, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

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.

4 Jul, 2022

We need a closer eye on what is happening in state prisons

By |2022-07-05T09:34:35-05:00July 4, 2022|Categories: state records|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Our government should operate safe and secure prisons. If it is failing, the public should be able to know so that citizens can press for change. Based on the state’s own assessment of its prison system and the number of complaints coming from some prisons, including Trousdale, it seems clear that we need a closer eye on what is happening within.

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