Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Archives - Page 21 of 21

10 Apr, 2014

Read court filings for and against open records in Vanderbilt rape case
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Read court filings for and against open records in Vanderbilt rape case

crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

Read court filings for and against open records in Vanderbilt rape case

By Deborah Fisher|2014-06-03T07:35:41-05:00April 10, 2014|Categories: crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: crime records, litigation, The Tennessean, Vanderbilt rape case|0 Comments

Updated June 3 with additional briefs filed with Court of Appeals. The Tennessean and 10 other media organizations and related groups filed an open records lawsuit against Metro Government of Nashville and Davidson County, challenging its assertion that police records in the Vanderbilt rape case are exempted from the Tennessee Public Records Act. At issue is just how far the Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(a)(2) goes in restricting access by the public to police records during an investigation or prosecution. The coalition -- which includes Tennessee Coalition for Open Government -- contends 16(a)(2) is not a blanket exemption, and to make it so violates Tennessee statute and constitutional rights [...]

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 [...]

21 Mar, 2014

Charles Overby, Shanda Sundstrom elected as new TCOG board members

By Deborah Fisher|2014-04-14T15:07:49-05:00March 21, 2014|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: TCOG board, TCOG news|0 Comments

Charles Overby, former chairman of the Freedom Forum, Newseum and Diversity Institute. Doug Pierce, attorney with King & Ballow and representative for the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters Dorothy Bowles, University of Tennessee professor emerita and representative for the Society of Professional Journalists East Tennessee Chapter Lucian Pera, attorney with Adams and Reese LLP Louis Graham, editor of The Commercial Appeal Jack McElroy, editor of Knoxville News-Sentinel Maria De Varenne, editor and director of news for The Tennessean Frank Gibson, public policy director of Tennessee Press Association Marian Ott, state treasurer for the League [...]

8 Dec, 2013

TCOG improves public access in its first 10 years

By Deborah Fisher|2014-09-10T09:01:26-05:00December 8, 2013|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Elisha Hodge, OORC, TCOG news|0 Comments

By Deborah Fisher, Executive Director of Tennessee Coalition for Open Government The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government celebrated a milestone last year. It turned 10 years old. As its new executive director, I spent the first couple weeks on the job researching the group’s activities, and the accomplishments have been impressive. TCOG was founded 10 years ago to improve government transparency in Tennessee.Image courtesy of Stuart Miles of FreeDigitalPhotos.net Those who were in on the ground floor – including the Tennessee Press Association, the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, The Commercial Appeal, The Tennessean, Knoxville News Sentinel and the Chattanooga Times Free Press – should be proud. The support of [...]