(The Center Square) – A federal judge in Tennessee ruled Wednesday that meetings of the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Rules of Practice and Procedure do not have to remain open to the public.
The ruling comes after a prior injunction in favor of The Center Square Vice President of News and Content Dan McCaleb from U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson required those meetings to be open. The commission has held meetings, streamed live to YouTube, throughout this year.
The group is an advisory group that meets to suggest court rule changes in Tennessee and then submits those suggestions to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
The Liberty Justice Center, which represents McCaleb, appealed the decision to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday.
“Judge Richardson specifically acknowledged the federal circuit split on the proper law to apply in First Amendment right of access cases like this one,” said Liberty Justice Center Senior Counsel Buck Dougherty. “That is significant because the U.S. Supreme Court typically accepts cases when there exists a circuit split among the various federal courts on important constitutional issues.
“Ultimately, we expect to prevail because there is a robust history and tradition of opening similar rulemaking meetings to the public. Liberty Justice Center is proud to stand with Dan and The Center Square in opening Tennessee’s court rulemaking meetings to the public.”
This year, the committee has discussed making court briefs available online after it was suggested by Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Dwight Tarwater, who chaired a subcommittee on the matter.
The group has also discussed changes related to streamlining of the rules for filing motions in appellate court, the rules for experts in court and the rules for appealing based on a perceived area in the court’s finding of fact.
Richardson’s ruling on Wednesday acknowledged a circuit split between whether precedent from Houchins v. KQED or a Richmond Newspapers case should be the guiding force on whether the commission’s meetings should be open to the public under First Amendment requirements.
