litigation

15 May, 2014

Missouri media file lawsuit over secrecy of execution drugs

By |2014-05-15T17:17:36-05:00May 15, 2014|Categories: execution drugs|Tags: , |0 Comments

The issue of secrecy surrounding the source of execution drugs is heating up in the wake of some botched executions. The Associated Press joined other Missouri newspapers in challenging that state's insistence that its laws allow the corrections department to keep the source of the drug secret. Here's a rundown on the litigation in Missouri. TCOG first wrote about the secrecy of execution drugs in December, eight months after the Tennessee Legislature passed a bill to make the source of drugs confidential, along with the already confidential name of the medical personnel involved in the execution. Since then, the secrecy issue has become national. The Tennessee Legislature in the most [...]

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7 May, 2014

Behind the TSSAA ruling: Preserving public oversight over government functions

By |2020-02-23T10:11:33-06:00May 7, 2014|Categories: functional equivalent, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |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 [...]

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1 May, 2014

Appeals court: TSSAA subject to Public Records Act

By |2020-02-23T10:11:53-06:00May 1, 2014|Categories: functional equivalent, public records lawsuits Tennessee, schools|Tags: , , , , , , , |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 [...]

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17 Apr, 2014

Lawsuit challenges Sumner Schools for not allowing records request by email

By |2014-04-17T15:34:29-05:00April 17, 2014|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Reporter Tena Lee with the Hendersonville Star News and The Tennessean reports on a new public records issue in Sumner County -- a challenge to a school board policy that requires a public records request to be made in person or by U.S. postal service. The article is reprinted here with permission: An open records advocate told by the Sumner County Board of Education that he had to submit requests either in person or via U.S. mail rather than by email filed a lawsuit in Sumner County Chancery Court April 9 challenging the board's practice. Ken Jakes, a resident of Joelton, Tenn., emailed the board of education's community relations supervisor, Jeremy [...]

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10 Apr, 2014

Read court filings for and against open records in Vanderbilt rape case

By |2014-06-03T07:35:41-05:00April 10, 2014|Categories: crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Updated June 3 with additional briefs filed with Court of Appeals. The Tennessean and 10 other media organizations and related groups filed an open records lawsuit against Metro Government of Nashville and Davidson County, challenging its assertion that police records in the Vanderbilt rape case are exempted from the Tennessee Public Records Act. At issue is just how far the Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(a)(2) goes in restricting access by the public to police records during an investigation or prosecution. The coalition -- which includes Tennessee Coalition for Open Government -- contends 16(a)(2) is not a blanket exemption, and to make it so violates Tennessee statute and constitutional rights [...]

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