News - Page 28 of 128 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

17 Jul, 2020

TN Supreme Court: We have not approved ‘outright ban’ on public access in state’s courts

By Deborah Fisher|2020-10-02T12:17:56-05:00July 17, 2020|Categories: Open Courts|Tags: court access, COVID-19, Tennessee Supreme Court|1 Comment

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Monday denied a joint petition of 56 organizations, including Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, that asked it to take action to protect public access to courts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jeff Bivins is chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court. "At no time has the Court countenanced or approved an outright ban on public access to the courts. In fact, the Court has strongly encouraged all courts and judges to remain diligent in attempting to address public and media access," the Supreme Court said in its order. The petition was prompted after the state's 31 judicial district began turning in plans for resuming more in-person [...]

9 Jul, 2020

Memphis police limits media requests to view public records to one journalist per day

By Deborah Fisher|2020-10-02T12:17:08-05:00July 9, 2020|Categories: requests|Tags: COVID-19, excessive force complaints, inspection, Institute for Public Service Reporting, Marc Perrusquia, Memphis Police, public records requests|0 Comments

The Memphis police department is limiting journalists who want to view its public records, allowing only one media appointment per day and limiting that appointment to three hours. Mark Perrusquia learned that he could only inspect records a maximum of twice a week at the Memphis Police Department, slowing his review of five years of excessive force reports. Now, police are limiting access even further, saying they'll only allow one journalist per day. Marc Perrusquia, a longtime Memphis journalist at The Commercial Appeal and now director of the Institute for Public Service Reporting at the University of Memphis, in early June requested copies of excessive report complaints against Memphis police [...]

8 Jul, 2020

Joe Towns’ threat to challenge finance disclosure law influenced secret vote to reduce his fines

By Deborah Fisher|2020-09-17T18:04:49-05:00July 8, 2020|Categories: open meetings lawsuits|Tags: Bill Young, cure meeting, email vote, Registry of Election Finance, Tom Lawless|0 Comments

Longtime Memphis lawmaker Joe Towns threatened to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Tennessee's campaign finance disclosure laws if a settlement of Towns' outstanding fines was not accepted, members of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance board said Wednesday at a public meeting. State Rep. Joe Towns, D-Memphis, threatened to challenge the constitutionality of the state's financial disclosure laws if the board did not approve a settlement to reduce fines he had accumulated for not filing reports, board members said today in a public meeting. House Democratic Chair Mike Stewart, D-Nashville, was his attorney. The new information shed more light on a secret April 1 vote in which the [...]

7 Jul, 2020

Judge affirms ruling in case against Knox County sheriff, information emerges about withheld records

By Deborah Fisher|2020-07-07T14:33:05-05:00July 7, 2020|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: arrest records, Knox County Sheriff, Meghan Conley, public records requests|0 Comments

Knox County Chancellor John Weaver last week declined a motion by the Knox County Sheriff to alter his order in a recent public records case, even as new information emerged that even more requested records had been withheld. The sheriff had argued that parts of the order were too onerous, such as making arrest reports freely available for public inspection and having to respond to requests that might be generally phrased. Weaver in April had ruled in Conley v. Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler that the Knox County Sheriff’s Office violated the public records law in denying access to public records sought by a University of Tennessee sociology professor related to immigration enforcement. [...]

7 Jul, 2020

Judge rules Tennessee School Boards Association is ‘functional equivalent’

By Deborah Fisher|2020-07-07T14:29:48-05:00July 7, 2020|Categories: functional equivalent, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Beacon Center of Tennessee, functional equivalent, Tennessee School Boards Association|0 Comments

A Davidson County judge ruled Monday that the Tennessee School Boards Association is subject to the state public records law because it is a functional equivalent of a government agency. Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal ruled that the Tennessee School Boards Association is subject to the public records law as a functional equivalent of a government agency. "As a functional equivalent of a governmental agency, the public records in the possession of TSBA, including its training materials, communications regarding its legislative agendas, and its position statements on stated education law and funding, are public records subject to he provisions of the TPRA," Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal wrote in her ruling. (See [...]