public records lawsuits Tennessee Archives - Page 19 of 20 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

18 Mar, 2014

Judge awards $31K to Murfreesboro citizen in open records lawsuit

By Deborah Fisher|2020-11-19T12:17:38-06:00March 18, 2014|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, schools|Tags: attorney's fees, litigation, Murfreesboro, Rutherford County|0 Comments

Tracy Pack filed an open records lawsuit more than three years ago after he had requested records under the Tennessee Public Records Act and received what he suspected was an incomplete response. He told The Murfreesboro Post that he "just wanted to know whether county funds were being spent properly." Pack had requested copies of checks written by former principal Chontel Bridgeman on a Homer Pittard Campus School checking account. Fox 17 WZTV Nashville interviewed orthodontist Tracy Pack who sued the Rutherford County school board. Click on the photo to hear what Pack had to say. The award is the second time in recent months in which the [...]

13 Mar, 2014

Read Judge Russell Perkins’ ruling in Vanderbilt rape case

By Deborah Fisher|2018-08-06T08:52:38-05:00March 13, 2014|Categories: crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Chancellor Russell Perkins, crime records, law enforcement privilege, The Tennessean, Vanderbilt rape case|1 Comment

Davidson County Chancellor Russell T. Perkins ruled Wednesday that some records in the police file in the Vanderbilt rape case are subject to the Tennessee Public Records Act, including text messages and emails recovered from witnesses or criminal defendants. The ruling rejected an adoption of a law enforcement privilege for pending criminal cases, and said in a footnote that "The Court concludes these text messages are not witness statements that can be shielded from disclosure. Instead, these text messages are memorializations of conduct related to the alleged crime and the alleged cover up." Excerpt: "Taking a case-by-case view as a trial court, the Court concludes that exempting all the records [...]

13 Mar, 2014

The Tennessean: Judge rules some Vanderbilt rape case records are open

By Deborah Fisher|2018-08-06T08:56:31-05:00March 13, 2014|Categories: crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Chancellor Russell Perkins, crime records, open records, The Tennessean, Vanderbilt rape case|0 Comments

This story about the Vanderbilt rape case, written by Tony Gonzalez, was published by The Tennessean on March 12, 2014 and reprinted here with permission. Some records in a high-profile Vanderbilt University rape case should be made available under the Public Records Act, a Davidson County Chancery Court judge ruled Wednesday in response to The Tennessean’s lawsuit against Metro government over access to information. In an 18-page order, Chancellor Russell Perkins ruled that some text messages, emails by witnesses and defendants, and other records given to police by the university were public documents and should be given to a media coalition that sued for access. But those records won’t immediately be provided to [...]

3 Mar, 2014

Chattanooga should not appeal open records ruling

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T15:13:04-06:00March 3, 2014|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: attorneys' fees, Chattanooga, litigation|0 Comments

The Open Records Act in Tennessee has bite. Because the city of Chattanooga was found to be willful and dishonest in denying public records to citizen Rebecca Little, an appeals court said it must pay her attorneys’ fees and costs: $71,343. Citizens shouldn’t have to sue to get their local government to follow the law. Such a case is never easy. It took three years. The city appealed one decision to the Tennessee Supreme Court, which declined to hear it. The city could try again over the latest Appeals Court ruling on the amount of fees, further dragging out the case, creating more costs for both sides. It has until [...]

20 Feb, 2014

Rebecca Little discusses what led to her public records lawsuit

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T15:12:28-06:00February 20, 2014|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: attorneys' fees, Chancellor Frank Brown, Chattanooga, litigation|0 Comments

Victors in a public records lawsuit: The Little family owns Tennessee RiverPlace, a bed and breakfast in Lookout Valley in Chattanooga. Rebecca Little won a public records lawsuit with the city, but the family continues to fight over services Chattanooga promised during annexation in the 1970s but hasn't delivered. I talked with Rebecca Little this morning about her victory at the appeals court last week in her public records lawsuit. The appeals court on Friday overturned Hamilton County Chancellor W. Frank Brown in Little's public records case against the city of Chattanooga – ruling that the city must reimburse Little $71,343 in attorney fees and other costs to [...]