A citizen's lawsuit against the city of Athens and its city manager takes aim at multiple potential violations of the open meetings and public records laws, including overcharging for copies and failing to keep minutes of meetings involving a suspension of the city manager.
Marc Perrusquia, a journalist whose reporting has exposed problems in the Memphis police department, has filed a lawsuit challenging the city's denial of access to documents that would show how the city responded to a history of trouble with three officers.
The sponsors of legislation that would have rewritten laws regarding citizen access to body cam and dashcam footage decided not to run their bill this year.
Three bills that improve open government have cleared both the House and Senate. One will improve the transparency of public meetings of hundreds of state boards and commissions. Another brings more transparency to deaths that occur in local jails and state prisons. And the third clarifies language in the public records law that sometimes causes confusion over ID requirements and the responsibility of government to search for records.
A stealth caption bill that seeks to lock down citizen access to police body cam and dashcam footage has emerged late in session and will be heard in two key committees on Wednesday. The bill allows a law enforcement agency to delete most body cam and dashcam footage after 30 days and prevents local restrictions on police surveillance, such as facial recognition systems and drones. The bill, as revised, would be a dramatic step away from transparency, allowing police complete discretion over how it handles body camera footage and what is released and not released, even to the citizens directly affected in a police confrontation.
