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Amended Tennessee Statute Ruled Retroactive For Denial Of Records Request

Tennessee State death row prisoner Richard Taylor's attorney, Sabin Thompson, appealed a 1991 dismissal of a petition to compel the Internal Affairs Division (IAD) of the Department of Corrections (DOC) to produce records concerning Taylor's murder conviction, The records were previously available but later inaccessible by legislative amendment. Nondisclosure was affirmed.

Taylor was convicted of murdering Turney Center Correctional Facility guard Ronald Moore in 1981. In 1985, Term. Code Ann. § 10 7 504(a)(8) was amended providing that all IAD records and reports of the DOC were confidential and not discloseable to the public. Thompson requested all files regarding Moore's death pursuant to the Open Record's Act (Act) and filed action when the request was denied by the DOC. DOC's Commissioner argued that the records were confidential. The chancery court dismissed the petition without a hearing. Thompson appealed claiming that the records' previous availability preempted the amendment.

The Middle Section Court of Appeals of Tennessee at Nashville ruled that the legislature opened the door making the records public and they could close the door retroactively if they determined that the policy was too broad and found no error. All further proceedings were remanded to the chancery court if required. See: Thompson v. Reynolds, 858 S.W.2d 328 (Tenn. App. 1993).

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Related legal case

Thompson v. Reynolds