A free press is fundamental to our democracy. When government officials choose to block members of the press and public from accessing court rulemaking meetings—where decisions affecting citizens are made in secret—they undermine government transparency and the public trust. That is exactly what has happened in Tennessee, where state judicial officials and attorneys appointed to an advisory commission by the Tennessee Supreme Court decided to close their meetings to reporters and the public.
The Tennessee Supreme Court’s Advisory Commission typically meets quarterly, making recommendations to the Tennessee Supreme Court on proposed court rules of practice and procedure. The issues discussed and recommendations made during these meetings directly affect the lives of everyday Tennesseans, including how they are governed in the courtroom.
Even though Federal Advisory Committees—who perform the same function as Tennessee’s Advisory Commission at the federal level—have had their court rulemaking meetings open to the public and press for 35 years, a decision was made in 2018 to close the once-public meetings of Tennessee’s Advisory Commission.
In June 2022, in the interest of transparent and open government, the Liberty Justice Center filed a First Amendment right of access lawsuit to allow the press and public access to the Advisory Commission’s meetings.
The Liberty Justice Center represents Dan McCaleb, Executive Editor of the online news service the Center Square, in his challenge against Michelle Long, Director of the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts. Under Dan McCaleb’s leadership, the Center Square reports on state- and local-level government and economic issues across the country, including the state of Tennessee.
In March 2023, a federal court found that the First Amendment right of access attaches to meetings of Tennessee’s Advisory Commission under United States Supreme Court precedent. The judge issued a federal court order and preliminary injunction requiring Director Long and her Office to provide access to the public and press to observe these meetings. Under the preliminary injunction, the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Advisory Commission now must publicly livestream its quarterly meetings.
The Liberty Justice Center, Dan McCaleb, and the Center Square are pressing forward in this crucial First Amendment litigation to make the preliminary injunction a permanent injunction so these meetings will always be open to the public and press.
Liberty Justice Center Senior Counsel Buck Dougherty said, “This impact of this case can be summarized in a famous quote, made over a century ago by United States Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis—‘Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.’”
McCaleb v. Long was filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on June 13, 2022.
Buck Dougherty is a Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, where he litigates in trial and appellate courts on behalf of everyday citizens in order to protect their civil liberties and preserve their constitutional rights.
James McQuaid is a staff attorney at Liberty Justice Center where he assists in cases to protect the rights to free speech, economic liberty, private property, and other Constitutional rights in courts across the country.
(The Center Square)—Tennessee’s Advisory Commission on Rules of Practice and Procedure decided to start a committee looking into rules to make court briefs available online moving forward. Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Dwight Tarwater will chair the committee, which will include commission Chairman Gino Bulso, Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Judge...
(The Center Square)—The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Rules of Practice and Procedure listened to a proposal to keep alternate jurors on even after deliberations begin in a criminal case during its Friday public meeting. Circuit Court Judge Russ Parkes said the proposal came so cases did not have to be...
(Center Square)—The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Rules of Practice and Procedure will livestream its 9 a.m. Friday quarterly meeting in compliance with a federal court order to make the meetings public. The meetings have been forced open after a March 2023 preliminary injunction in a lawsuit from The Center Square...
(The Tennessean)—Tennesseans can now witness how the state Supreme Court’s Advisory Commission makes decisions on court policy, following a lawsuit that accused the panel of undermining “government transparency and the public trust” by not allowing members of the public, or the media, the view the taxpayer funded meetings. The commission’s...
(The Center Square)—The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Rules of Practice and Procedure will hold a Dec. 8 meeting in Nashville that the group plans to live stream after The Center Square received an injunction earlier this year to open the meetings to the public. The Center Square Vice President of...
(The Center Square)—A U.S. District Court judge has granted an injunction, ruling the Tennessee state court’s Advisory Commission must open its meetings to the public either in person or via livestream after a lawsuit filed by The Center Square. Dan McCaleb, vice president of news and content, sued the Tennessee...
(The Center Square)—The Center Square has filed a second motion for a preliminary injunction to open the meetings of the state’s bench-bar advisory commission, the second such First Amendment motion in a case filed by the nonprofit’s executive editor. The new motion, filed by the Liberty Justice Center on behalf...
(The Center Square)—The executive editor of The Center Square is suing the Director of the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts in an attempt to open meetings at the upcoming Tennessee Judicial Conference to members of the public and the press. The suit contests that a new policy closing meetings...
(Legal Newsline)—A Tennessee state judiciary official faces a federal lawsuit for allegedly violating the First Amendment by closing meetings of state court judges to the public and press. At the Tennessee Judicial Conference meetings, state court judges and Conference committees discuss guidelines on state court policies and rules and recommend...