MLK50 Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

Memphis news group alleges First Amendment violation over media advisory list blacklisting

Nonprofit online news organization MLK50 in Memphis has told a federal judge overseeing a consent decree against the city that the city has violated its journalists' First Amendment rights and the court order by repeatedly refusing to add its editors to the city's media advisory list. The city of Memphis has refused to add MLK50 founder and editor Wendi Thomas to the media advisory list after taking her off in 2019. The city has complained she is not "objective" when it comes to her coverage of the mayor. In a letter written on May 4, attorney Paul McAdoo told U.S. District Judge Jon P. McCalla that the city of Memphis [...]

Settlement requires Memphis Shelby Crime Commission to produce records

By Deborah Fisher|2020-02-23T10:33:24-06:00February 23, 2020|Categories: functional equivalent, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: functional equivalent, MLK50, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, The Marshall Project|0 Comments

The Memphis Shelby Crime Commission has released records about its funding of the Memphis Police Department a year after a public records lawsuit. Wendi Thomas, founder of MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, sued the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission over access to its records. Wendi Thomas, founder of MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, and The Marshall Project argued that the crime commission was the "functional equivalent" of government because of its significant role in funding police and directing public safety policy in Memphis. Under Tennessee's "functional equivalent doctrine," a government entity cannot avoid disclosure under the state's Public Records Act by delegating its responsibilities to a private entity. Tennessee courts have used the [...]