If government officials accuse you of filing one too many public records requests, then they could use the courts to penalize you under a proposed bill at this year’s Tennessee General Assembly. State Rep. William Lamberth (R-Cottontown) introduced the bill this session. As written, a government official could seek an injunction to keep people “from making records requests that constitute harassment.” If an injunction goes through, then the person requesting government records could make no further requests for one year, according to the bill. That person, though, could ask a court to reverse the decision – but only if he or she shows “the public records request does not constitute harassment.” “Harassment” means three or more public records requests within a period of one year that are made in a manner that would cause a reasonable person, including a records custodian or any staff of the public entity in control of the public records, to be seriously abused, intimidated, threatened, or harassed,” according to the bill, as currently written. “For which the conduct in fact seriously abuses, intimidates, threatens, or harasses the person; and that are not made in good faith or for any legitimate purpose, or are made maliciously.”…
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