The Tennessean Archives - Page 4 of 6 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

15 Sep, 2014

City of Nashville declines records request that could help show judges’ hours at courthouse

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T08:16:57-05:00September 15, 2014|Categories: exemptions, Public Records|Tags: access card data, Brian Haas, courts, Judge Philip Smith, Nashville, Open Records Act exemptions, The Tennessean|0 Comments

The city of Nashville declined part of a recent public records request by The Tennesssean that would have shown the time of day Davidson County judges used their access cards to enter or exit a courthouse or its parking garage. The request was part of a larger one by the media company for access card data that the newspaper used to analyze how many days judges showed up to work compared with each other and a state average. The city released which days the judges used their access cards, but would not release the times of day when the access cards were swiped. "Under Tenn. Code Ann. 10-7-504(i)(1), the specific times [...]

11 Aug, 2014

Nashville school board moves to increase charter school transparency

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T07:51:31-05:00August 11, 2014|Categories: schools|Tags: charter schools, Nashville, The Tennessean|0 Comments

Reporter Joey Garrison's story this weekend in The Tennessean is a good one about increasing charter school transparency. While some might think it's as much politics as anything behind the motivation to require charter schools in Nashville to publish financial documents on the Metro Public Schools website, it's a proactive measure that all local governments can take, even before there is a controversy. Good to see that the school board decided to require the same of all Metro Nashville schools, not just charter schools. Our open government laws (open meetings and open records) apply to charter schools the same way they do to all other public schools. I don't see many [...]

11 Jun, 2014

Court of Appeals considers access to crime records in Tennessee
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Court of Appeals considers access to crime records in Tennessee

crime records, investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee

Court of Appeals considers access to crime records in Tennessee

By Deborah Fisher|2021-02-02T10:35:57-06:00June 11, 2014|Categories: crime records, investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Doug Pierce, Frank G. Clement Jr., Janet Kleinfelter, Maria De Varenne, Nashville, Richard Dinkins, Rick Hollow, Robb Harvey, Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, Tennessee Press Association, The Tennessean, Vanderbilt rape case, W. Neal McBrayer|0 Comments

By Deborah Fisher, TCOG Executive Director Spectators packed the courtroom June 9 for oral arguments in the appeal of the public records case, The Tennessean et al v. Metro Government of Nashville. The petition was brought by The Tennessean and a media coalition after it requested to see crime records collected by police concerning an alleged rape at Vanderbilt University, and were denied access. So many people filled the rows of the appellate court that it prompted Judge Frank G. Clement to make a light note that the court usually doesn’t draw such a crowd. But the room quickly grew serious as lawyers began their arguments and the three appellate judges [...]

17 Apr, 2014

Lawsuit challenges Sumner Schools for not allowing records request by email

By Deborah Fisher|2014-04-17T15:34:29-05:00April 17, 2014|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests|Tags: litigation, public records request, schools, The Tennessean|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 [...]

10 Apr, 2014

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

crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

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

By Deborah Fisher|2014-06-03T07:35:41-05:00April 10, 2014|Categories: crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: crime records, litigation, The Tennessean, Vanderbilt rape case|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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