Tag: Tennessee Public Records Act

Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Executive Director Deborah Fisher Says the Continued Withholding of Covenant Killer Materials Is ‘Disturbing’

Kaitlin Housler

Deborah Fisher, the executive director of Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, described the continued withholding of documents by the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) relating to the case of the Covenant School killer as simply “disturbing.”

On Tuesday, The Tennessee Star published all 90 pages of the journal written between January and March of 2023 by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the 28-year-old biological woman who self-identified as a transgender man and who, on March 27, 2023, murdered three 9-year-old students and three staff members at the Covenant School in Nashville before being subsequently killed by MNPD officers.

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Threats of Copyright Infringement Lawsuits over Release of Covenant Killer’s Manifesto Probably Wouldn’t Hold Up in Court, Open Government Advocate Says

M.D. Kittle

While the Covenant School killer’s parents consider their daughter’s deadly manifesto “intellectual property” and suggest anyone who publishes the documents could face legal damages, records experts say the threat is more legal posturing in a nationally watched public records lawsuit. 

But the latest legal twist in the court battle over Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s journals, written notes, memoirs and related writings is an attempt to take a “wrecking ball” to Tennessee’s public records law, one open government expert told The Tennessee Star. 

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Tennessee Firearms Association, Former Sheriff Sue Metro Nashville Police Demanding Release of Covenant Killer’s Manifesto

M.D. Kittle

The Tennessee Firearms Association is asking a state court to order the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department to turn over the Covenant School killer’s manifesto — documents law enforcement have kept from the public more than a month after Audrey Elizabeth Hale stormed into the private Covenant Presbyterian School and killed three 9-year-olds and three adults. 

In a lawsuit filed Monday, the TFA and former Hamilton County Sheriff James Hammond request the 20th Judicial District, Chancery Court, in Davidson County to grant the organization access to the manifesto. The complaint also seeks an order from the court finding the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County’s denial of TFA’s records requests is unlawful. 

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FW Publishing and Nashville Scene Reporter File Public Records Lawsuit Against Gov. Lee to Release Documents from $3 Million McKinsey Contract

Cooper Moran

FW Publishing, the parent company of the Nashville Scene, and reporter Stephen Elliot filed a public records lawsuit against Governor Bill Lee after the state failed to provide reports for the state compiled by consulting group McKinsey and Company.

The suit, which names both Lee and Tennessee Department of Human Resources Commissioner Juan Williams as respondents, argues the journalist is entitled to the documents under the Tennessee Public Records Act.

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