Knoxville News Sentinel

21 Feb, 2014

News Sentinel: Privacy bill of no real help to sexual assault victims

By |2014-04-09T16:50:57-05:00February 21, 2014|Categories: crime records, exemptions, Legislature|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

This editorial was published by the Knoxville News Sentinel on Feb. 16, and reprinted here with permission: A bill that would ostensibly protect the privacy of sexual assault victims in Tennessee would actually endanger criminal prosecutions and do nothing to lessen the anguish of the people it purports to help. The legislation, introduced in the Senate by Knoxville Republican Becky Duncan Massey at the request of Metro Nashville government, would make all records containing virtually any information about a sexual assault victim confidential. “No portion of any report, paper, picture, photograph, video, court file, or other document in the custody or possession of any public officer or employee which identifies [...]

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27 Jan, 2014

News Sentinel: UT athletics board should reopen its meetings to public

By |2014-04-09T16:56:53-05:00January 27, 2014|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: , , |0 Comments

The Knoxville News Sentinel published this editorial on Friday, Jan. 24, 2014, following a Jan. 19 story about the closed UT Athletics Board meetings by News Sentinel reporter Megan Boehnke. The editorial is reprinted here with permission: The University of Tennessee's Athletics Department is not so far removed from an NCAA investigation and a million-dollar budget deficit that it can thumb its nose at the public about what it is up to. Yet that appears to be the position of the UT Athletics Board, which has chosen to deny the public access to its meetings, has stopped keeping minutes and has not provided written reports or recommendations to the athletics director.  Last [...]

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20 Jan, 2014

Judge affirms News Sentinel’s right to emails

By |2014-04-09T16:58:56-05:00January 20, 2014|Categories: email|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

A judge sided again with the Knoxville News Sentinel in an open records request for emails sent to or by county officials. Here is the full article, published by the Knoxville News Sentinel last week and reprinted here with permission: Judge: Knox County should turn over emails By Gerald Witt, Knoxville News Sentinel For the second time, a judge told Knox County legal staff Monday to turn over emails requested by the News Sentinel. Blount County Circuit Court Judge David Duggan said during a hearing that nine emails sent to or by county officials, including Mayor Tim Burchett, should be made public. In October, he directed the county to release the records, but Knox County Law Director Richard “Bud” Armstrong [...]

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18 Nov, 2013

Deliberative process privilege danger to open government

By |2021-12-28T11:16:01-06:00November 18, 2013|Categories: deliberative process privilege|Tags: , , , |1 Comment

Court of Appeals judges are (seated from left), David R. Farmer, Patricia J. Cottrell, Charles D. Susano, Jr., Alan E. Highers, John Westley McClarty; (standing from left) J. Steven Stafford, Richard H. Dinkins, Thomas R. Frierson, II, Andy D. Bennett, Frank G. Clement, D. Michael Swiney, and Holly M. Kirby. From the Knoxville News-Sentinel:  A recent Tennessee appeals court ruling explicitly established for the first time an exemption to the state’s Public Records Act for documents used by “high officials” in developing policy. The broadly written ruling could allow any government official to refuse to release just about any document to a citizen seeking to review them. The [...]

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