Stephen Elliott Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

5 Jan, 2023

Judge puts the brakes on state’s use of deliberative process privilege
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Judge puts the brakes on state’s use of deliberative process privilege

deliberative process privilege, public records lawsuits Tennessee

Judge puts the brakes on state’s use of deliberative process privilege

By Deborah Fisher|2023-01-05T14:50:58-06:00January 5, 2023|Categories: deliberative process privilege, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Chancellor Patricia Moskal, consultant's report, deliberative process privilege, Deputy Attorney General Janet Kleinfelter, Paul McAdoo, Stephen Elliott|0 Comments

Davidson County Chancellor Pat Moskal ruled that the state could not withhold consultant reports by McKinsey and Co. under a deliberative process privilege in the face of a public records request. She said the reports were a one-way communication with state officials and did not fall under a deliberative process privilege because they were not "deliberative" and did not consist of communications between high-level government officials. The ruling is a win for journalist Stephen Elliott, who began requesting the reports in 2020.

28 Jan, 2022

AG tells judge COVID-19 reports should be withheld to avoid ‘Monday-morning quarterbacking’

By Deborah Fisher|2022-01-28T19:06:29-06:00January 28, 2022|Categories: deliberative process privilege, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Chancellor Patricia Moskal, deliberative process privilege, Deputy Attorney General Janet Kleinfelter, Local Legal Initiative, Paul McAdoo, Stephen Elliott|0 Comments

The deputy attorney general for Tennessee argued in court this week that reports by consultant McKinsey and Co. regarding the re-opening of Tennessee and other government responses during the COVID-19 pandemic are exempt from the public records law because revealing them would open up the executive branch to second-guessing by the public.

5 Jan, 2022

Nashville Post journalist files public records lawsuit over state’s McKinsey reports

By Deborah Fisher|2022-01-10T12:05:08-06:00January 5, 2022|Categories: deliberative process privilege, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: deliberative process privilege, Gov. Bill Lee, Paul McAdoo, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Stephen Elliott, Swift v. Campbell, Thomas Wesley|1 Comment

In the second public records lawsuit against Gov. Bill Lee's administration in a matter of weeks, Nashville Post journalist Stephen Elliott says that the administration's claim of a "deliberative process privilege" to keep secret a consultant's reports during the COVID-19 pandemic has no basis in state law.