Claudia Bonnyman Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

12 Aug, 2014

Appeals Court hears arguments on reach of execution drug secrecy

By Deborah Fisher|2014-08-12T09:58:01-05:00August 12, 2014|Categories: execution drugs|Tags: Andy Bennett, Appeals Court, Claudia Bonnyman, execution drugs, Kyle Hixon, litigation|0 Comments

The Tennessean covered the arguments before the Court of Appeals Monday concerning an exemption to the Tennessee Public Records Act passed in 2013 that makes the source of execution drugs confidential. Lawyers for death row inmates sought to have the source revealed to them so they could examine whether the source was safe and legal, and whether it would violate inmate rights to be free of cruel and unusual punishment. Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman ordered the information released to the lawyers under seal. The state is appealing Bonnyman's ruling. An excerpt from reporter Brian Haas' story: The appeals panel Monday seemed skeptical of Hixson's arguments, pressing him on whether the 2013 law applied [...]

7 May, 2014

Behind the TSSAA ruling: Preserving public oversight over government functions
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Behind the TSSAA ruling: Preserving public oversight over government functions

functional equivalent, public records lawsuits Tennessee

Behind the TSSAA ruling: Preserving public oversight over government functions

By Deborah Fisher|2020-02-23T10:11:33-06:00May 7, 2014|Categories: functional equivalent, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Claudia Bonnyman, Court of Appeals, Frank G. Clement Jr., functional equivalent, John Williams, litigation, non-government agencies, Southcomm, Steve Cavendish, The Commercial Appeal, TSSAA|1 Comment

An Appeals Court finds that regulating high school sports is a government function, so the regulator should be subject to open records law. Should the agency that regulates high school athletic competitions in Tennessee – making rules, conducting investigations, deciding eligibility and collecting millions of dollars in gate receipts – be subject to the same public scrutiny as public high schools and school boards? The Court of Appeals in Nashville said yes in a significant April 30 decision that opens up records of an organization that touches nearly every community in the state. The City Paper in Nashville two years ago sought records from the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s [...]

1 May, 2014

Appeals court: TSSAA subject to Public Records Act

By Deborah Fisher|2020-02-23T10:11:53-06:00May 1, 2014|Categories: functional equivalent, public records lawsuits Tennessee, schools|Tags: Claudia Bonnyman, Court of Appeals, Frank G. Clement Jr., functional equivalent, litigation, schools, Southcomm, TSSAA|0 Comments

The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association meets the standards of a "functional equivalent" of government and therefore is subject to the Tennessee Public Records Act, an appeals court in Nashville ruled today. The decision means the organization, which was created in 1925 and has an annual budget of $5 million, must abide by the same rules as government agencies when it comes to access to its records. Court of Appeals Judge Frank G. Clement Jr. The case arose in 2012 after TSSAA refused to give The City Paper records related to an investigation into tuition for athletes at Montgomery Bell Academy, arguing it was not subject to the [...]

23 Mar, 2014

The Tennessean takes on secrecy of execution drugs

By Deborah Fisher|2014-05-02T06:46:57-05:00March 23, 2014|Categories: execution drugs, exemptions|Tags: Claudia Bonnyman, execution drugs, legislature, Open Records Act exemptions, The Tennessean|0 Comments

The Tennessean exposes the secrecy of execution drugs in a front-page story in today's Sunday edition. State lawmakers last year passed an exemption to the Tennessee Open Records Act that allows the state to keep confidential the name of its supplier of drugs for lethal injections. With that decision, it joined other states who have marched toward similar confidentiality, driven to that secrecy because drug manufacturers have refused to supply states on moral grounds. Finding less obvious sources meant the states had to agree to keep new suppliers secret. The secrecy of the drug source has been questioned on First Amendment grounds in at least three other states. Defense lawyers challenged [...]

11 Dec, 2013

Tennessee Supreme Court delays execution (update on drug secrecy issue)

By Deborah Fisher|2019-06-19T09:32:49-05:00December 11, 2013|Categories: execution drugs, exemptions|Tags: Claudia Bonnyman, execution drugs, public records exemption|0 Comments

The Tennessee Supreme Court today reset the execution date for Billy Ray Irick to Oct. 7, 2014, noting the issues raised in a case in Davidson County Chancery Court over the state's new one-drug lethal injection protocol. Irick had been scheduled for execution on Jan. 15, 2014. In the case before Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman, attorneys for the death row inmates argue the constitutionality of the state's new protocol, which uses pentobarbital, common in animal euthanasia. Among other challenges to the protocol and use of pentobarbital, the attorneys also challenge the secrecy of a new state exemption to the Open Records Act passed last legislative session to shield the name of [...]