A school board's agreement to not say anything disparaging about a director of schools it fired violates the First Amendment free speech rights of school board members, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled in a case upholding a lower court's decision.
A citizen cannot be thrown out of a public meeting simply because he or she offends, antagonizes or harshly criticizes a governing body or members of a governing body during public comment period, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals said this month.
The Douglas Henry State Museum Commission has rescinded a controversial code of conduct policy that had required board members to notify the commission before they talked to the media and threatened ouster of board members who didn't follow the rules. State Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville The code of conduct policy came under fierce criticism by lawmakers at a Joint Government Operations Committee meeting in August. Several were appalled at the restrictive speech policy and one said it appeared to be an attempt to silence museum board member and former Knoxville mayor Victor Ashe. The code of conduct policy prohibited board members from saying anything that would "disparage" the [...]
This week's account of a state worker snatching a meeting agenda packet from a news reporter’s hands was a low point in the open government ethic of Tennessee. I wish it were the only one. At a public meeting of the Douglas Henry State Museum Commission, Nashville Scene reporter Cari Wade Gervin picked up a meeting packet laying on the table that contained a proposed new operating policy, including a new Code of Conduct for commissioners. She was trying to copy down information in it. Also see: State museum commission restricts speech, communication with the press The Nashville Scene reported that the museum’s media relations officer grabbed the document out of [...]
