News - Page 32 of 128 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

28 Apr, 2020

Georgia can’t copyright its annotated code, says Supreme Court in ruling that could affect Tennessee

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T13:13:54-05:00April 28, 2020|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: copyright, Tennessee Code Annotated, U.S. Supreme Court|0 Comments

The U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision on Monday ruled that non-binding legal materials created by a state legislative body cannot be copyrighted, expanding the understanding of what government works are in the public domain. In a decision delivered by Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., the Supreme Court ruled that Georgia can't copyright the annotations in its official state code. At issue in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc. was whether Georgia could copyright the annotations in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) and prevent the nonprofit Public.Resource.Org from copying the annotated version and distributing it for free on its website. “Under the government edicts doctrine, judges — and, we [...]

24 Apr, 2020

After public pressure, state releases nursing home COVID-19 data on website

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T13:14:56-05:00April 24, 2020|Categories: Public Records|Tags: COVID-19, nursing homes|0 Comments

In "Tennessee keeps nursing homes' COVID-19 numbers secret," NC5 investigative reporter Phil Williams presses the Lee administration on why data is being withheld. After multiple weeks of pressure and questions from news media organizations and journalists, the Tennessee Department of Health today began posting on its website COVID-19 infection rates and deaths in nursing homes. Data was released on the state Health Department's COVID-19 website showing reported COVID-19 infection rates and death rates. The health department said it would update the data weekly at 2 p.m. on Fridays. The data will be updated each Friday at 2 p.m. Central Daylight Time, the state said. On Friday, the data showed 44 [...]

24 Apr, 2020

In-person court proceedings can resume with certain safeguards and approval

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T13:15:55-05:00April 24, 2020|Categories: Open Courts|Tags: courts, COVID-19, Justice Jeffrey S. Bivins|1 Comment

In what seems to be becoming a pattern with big announcements, Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee shared news of the order first on twitter on Friday morning. The order was posted on the court's website a few hours later. The Tennessee Supreme Court issued an order today modifying its earlier suspension of in-person court proceedings, providing a pathway for in-person court proceedings to resume. The court on March 13 declared a state of emergency for the judicial branch of government in Tennessee, and suspended most in-person court proceedings with some exceptions. (The order was updated March 25.) "Since that time, the State of Tennessee and its citizens have made [...]

13 Apr, 2020

Judge rules against Knox County sheriff in public records case, puts department under court orders

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T13:17:02-05:00April 13, 2020|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Knox County Sheriff, Meghan Conley|1 Comment

Chancellor John Weaver ruled on April 9, 2020, in favor of Meghan Conley, who sued the Knox County sheriff over its responses to her public records requests. In an important win for access to public records, Knox County Chancellor John Weaver found the Knox County Sheriff's Office violated the public records law in its responses to a sociology professor seeking access to records related to immigration enforcement. Knox County Chancellor John Weaver After a public records case that stretched on for a year, Weaver issued a court order on April 9 in Meghan Conley v. Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler that requires the sheriff's office to comply with provisions of [...]

10 Apr, 2020

New law corrects language in public records act regarding redaction

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T14:41:48-05:00April 10, 2020|Categories: Legislature|Tags: redactions|0 Comments

One of the few bills that passed in the final days before the Tennessee General Assembly recessed in March was a bill that corrected a mistake in the drafting of a public records exemption in 2002. State Sen. Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City The legislation, signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee on March 25 and effective immediately, deletes the language "subsection (a)" where it appears in T.C.A. § 10-7-504 (a)(20) and replaces it with "subdivision (a)(20)". The exemption deals with confidentiality of municipal utility records. The bill clarified that the provisions in this particular subdivision only apply to the municipal utility records made confidential in subdivision T.C.A. § 10-7-504 (a)(20) [...]