News - Page 74 of 125 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

5 Apr, 2016

Residents file open meetings lawsuit against Memphis City Council over parking vote

By Deborah Fisher|2016-04-05T19:43:19-05:00April 5, 2016|Categories: open meetings lawsuits|Tags: Bryce Ashby, Memphis City Council, open meetings violation, Stephen Humbert, Susan Lacy|0 Comments

The Commercial Appeal reports today that two residents have filed an open meetings lawsuit against the Memphis City Council, alleging that a vote on a resolution that allowed Memphis Zoo overflow parking in Overton Park was orchestrated in advance through deliberations outside the public eye. See Commerical Appeal story: Lawsuit alleges Memphis City Council violated Open Meetings Act regarding March 1 greensward vote Bryce Ashby, attorney for the plaintiffs, told the Commercial Appeal: “It’s important to understand that this lawsuit, while involving Overton Park, is about a bigger issue. This is about transparency in government and the right of the public to have notice of the actions that are to be taken by [...]

5 Apr, 2016

Bill keeps TBI records about officer-involved shootings confidential unless police agree to release

By Deborah Fisher|2017-03-21T16:59:17-05:00April 5, 2016|Categories: crime records, Legislature|Tags: police body cameras, police shootings, State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, State Sen. Brian Kelsey, TBI|1 Comment

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article referenced language in the original Senate Bill 2023 and House Bill 2091 that required the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to handle investigations into all officer-involved shootings in the state. The amended bill that passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week does not appear to mandate TBI investigate all shootings, but when TBI does handle the investigation, it gives the district attorney and law enforcement agency discretion on whether to release public records regarding the investigation. A bill that passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week regarding TBI investigations into officer-involved shootings would keep public records of the investigation closed after the [...]

4 Apr, 2016

TBI, Sevier County sheriff keeps video of police shooting secret, though deputy back on duty

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-09T08:21:07-06:00April 4, 2016|Categories: crime records|Tags: Branden Bearden, police body cameras, Sevier County Sheriff's Department, TBI|0 Comments

Just one week after a House State Government committee asked for a full study on body camera footage, a reporter in Sevierville continues to struggle to access police camera footage from a Jan. 13 fatal police shooting there. The reporter, Jeff Farrell of The Mountain Press, did what any good reporter would do after a sheriff's deputy shot and killed a fleeing suspect. Knowing that the Sheriff's Department had equipped deputies with body cameras, Farrell requested any dash cam or body cam footage of the incident. The Sheriff's Department, however, said it would not or could not release footage, saying it had turned over investigation into the incident to the Tennessee [...]

4 Apr, 2016

News-Sentinel praises delay on body camera legislation

By Deborah Fisher|2016-04-04T11:13:11-05:00April 4, 2016|Categories: crime records, Legislature|Tags: Knoxville News Sentinel, police body cameras|0 Comments

The Knoxville News-Sentinel in a Sunday editorial praises a House committee's decision to delay body camera legislation and wait for a study by the Advisory Committee on Open Government: The state Legislature wisely has decided to take a closer look at police body cams before imposing secrecy on the videos they produce. Legislation proposed by Rep. Glen Casada, the Republican Caucus chairman from Franklin, would have kept all footage away from the public for at least a year while the issue was being studied. The moratorium was needed, Casada said, to protect the privacy of bystanders who might be caught on camera. The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government agreed that [...]

31 Mar, 2016

Why can’t I access public records in Tennessee? A particular problem for “border” journalists

By Deborah Fisher|2016-03-31T14:56:29-05:00March 31, 2016|Categories: requests|Tags: Chattanooga, non-residents, public records requests|0 Comments

A freelance journalist who lives near Chattanooga "literally two blocks" from the state line gives her perspective on the city's policy to deny her access to public records because she lives in Georgia. She makes a good case for why that policy doesn't make sense. See Cari Wade Gervin's column in Chattanooga Times Free Press: Expand access to records to all citizens Tennessee state law provides a right of access to citizens of the state of all public records. That doesn't mean government entities cannot provide public records to non-residents, they just don't have to. That position was upheld in 2013 in a Virginia case by the U. S. Supreme [...]