state records Archives - Page 4 of 4 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

23 Mar, 2014

The Tennessean takes on secrecy of execution drugs

By Deborah Fisher|2014-05-02T06:46:57-05:00March 23, 2014|Categories: execution drugs, exemptions|Tags: Claudia Bonnyman, execution drugs, legislature, Open Records Act exemptions, The Tennessean|0 Comments

The Tennessean exposes the secrecy of execution drugs in a front-page story in today's Sunday edition. State lawmakers last year passed an exemption to the Tennessee Open Records Act that allows the state to keep confidential the name of its supplier of drugs for lethal injections. With that decision, it joined other states who have marched toward similar confidentiality, driven to that secrecy because drug manufacturers have refused to supply states on moral grounds. Finding less obvious sources meant the states had to agree to keep new suppliers secret. The secrecy of the drug source has been questioned on First Amendment grounds in at least three other states. Defense lawyers challenged [...]

27 Feb, 2014

Department moves to make health inspection reports public

By Deborah Fisher|2014-04-09T16:46:23-05:00February 27, 2014|Categories: health facilities|Tags: health inspections, legislature, Open Records Act exemptions|0 Comments

To comply with federal law, the Tennessee Department of Health began in 2012 posting annual inspection reports of nursing homes on the state website. At the time, the Division of Health Care Facilities said it wanted to eventually post to the state website reports from all the health facilities it inspects. Proposed legislation this session paves the way for this, say those who have worked on the bill. The health department bill (SB 1629 and HB 1425) changes language in current law to explicitly make public its annual survey inspection reports of all health care facilities and pharmacies. The health department inspects a range of facilities, including assisted living centers, hospices, dialysis [...]

27 Feb, 2014

Bill defines DCS disclosure of child death records

By Deborah Fisher|2021-02-02T12:12:05-06:00February 27, 2014|Categories: state records|Tags: child death records, DCS, legislature, open records|1 Comment

Chas Sisk with The Tennessean reports today of a bill that would lay out required disclosures of child death records by DCS. Such records were at the heart of a lawsuit last year led by The Tennessean. Here is an excerpt from Sisk's story. House lawmakers gave initial approval Wednesday to a bill that sets new disclosure rules for the Department of Children’s Services. The House Civil Justice Subcommittee unanimously approved House Bill 1505 on a voice vote Wednesday afternoon after members raised no objections to the measure. The bill lays out the disclosures DCS must make when a child dies or comes close to death, and it says a full report [...]

11 Dec, 2013

Tennessee Supreme Court delays execution (update on drug secrecy issue)

By Deborah Fisher|2019-06-19T09:32:49-05:00December 11, 2013|Categories: execution drugs, exemptions|Tags: Claudia Bonnyman, execution drugs, public records exemption|0 Comments

The Tennessee Supreme Court today reset the execution date for Billy Ray Irick to Oct. 7, 2014, noting the issues raised in a case in Davidson County Chancery Court over the state's new one-drug lethal injection protocol. Irick had been scheduled for execution on Jan. 15, 2014. In the case before Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman, attorneys for the death row inmates argue the constitutionality of the state's new protocol, which uses pentobarbital, common in animal euthanasia. Among other challenges to the protocol and use of pentobarbital, the attorneys also challenge the secrecy of a new state exemption to the Open Records Act passed last legislative session to shield the name of [...]

10 Dec, 2013

Should execution drugs be a state secret?
Gallery
Should execution drugs be a state secret?

execution drugs, exemptions

Should execution drugs be a state secret?

By Deborah Fisher|2014-05-02T06:48:22-05:00December 10, 2013|Categories: execution drugs, exemptions|Tags: Claudia Bonnyman, execution drugs, legislature, litigation|1 Comment

© Photographer1773 | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images By Deborah Fisher, Executive Director of Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Does the public have a right to know about the drugs used to execute death row inmates? This question has been raised in recent months in court in at least three states, two of which recently enacted new laws or protocols to keep secret from citizens the source of execution drugs. In 2011, at least six states, including Tennessee, had their execution drugs seized or taken by the DEA after it became clear that the drugs had been imported illegally. States have sought to keep their new [...]