deliberative process privilege

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.

28 Jan, 2022

AG tells judge COVID-19 reports should be withheld to avoid ‘Monday-morning quarterbacking’

By |2022-01-28T19:06:29-06:00January 28, 2022|Categories: deliberative process privilege, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

The deputy attorney general for Tennessee argued in court this week that reports by consultant McKinsey and Co. regarding the re-opening of Tennessee and other government responses during the COVID-19 pandemic are exempt from the public records law because revealing them would open up the executive branch to second-guessing by the public.

5 Jan, 2022

Nashville Post journalist files public records lawsuit over state’s McKinsey reports

By |2022-01-10T12:05:08-06:00January 5, 2022|Categories: deliberative process privilege, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , , , |1 Comment

In the second public records lawsuit against Gov. Bill Lee's administration in a matter of weeks, Nashville Post journalist Stephen Elliott says that the administration's claim of a "deliberative process privilege" to keep secret a consultant's reports during the COVID-19 pandemic has no basis in state law.

27 Dec, 2021

Lawsuit challenges use of deliberative process privilege to keep McKinsey report secret

By |2021-12-28T11:20:32-06:00December 27, 2021|Categories: deliberative process privilege, Public Records, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , |1 Comment

A Nashville citizen has sued the state for refusing to release a government efficiency report prepared by an outside consultant in connection with the state's COVID-19 response. The state's Department of Human Resources claims the analysis by McKinsey and Co. is confidential because it is subject to the "deliberative process privilege" and contains information related to "operational vulnerabilities."  The Tennessean has reported the McKinsey analysis, delivered in September 2020, cost the state $1.59 million in taxpayer dollars.

17 Mar, 2021

The Tennessean outlines why state won’t release $1.59 million McKinsey report

By |2021-03-17T14:24:34-05:00March 17, 2021|Categories: deliberative process privilege|Tags: , , |0 Comments

A $1.59 million report by McKinsey & Co. on restructuring the state's workforce is confidential and won't be released to the public, a state agency has told The Tennessean. The Department of Human Resources told The Tennesseean in a story published March 9 that the taxpayer-funded report was confidential, citing the department's "deliberative process privilege." DHS has acknowledged to The Tennessean that it is planning employee buyouts. The state received the McKinsey report in September. This is not the first time the Gov. Bill Lee administration has asserted the deliberative process exemption to shield written reports. In 2019, the administration claimed they did not have to release written reports from [...]

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