Ruling in Covenant School shooting public records case creates unreasonable exemption
A Nashville judge’s ruling in The Covenant School shooting public records case creates a disappointing precedent that further cements secrecy in how government operates.
Chancellor I’Ashea L. Myles released her 60-page ruling at 11:58 p.m. Thursday – on a federal holiday – and created a new exemption to the Tennessee Public Records Act based on the notion that federal copyright law trumps state law.
This has the potential of impacting future cases where someone involved in a crime or civil matter may claim copyright status in order to avoid having materials appear in the public record.
The judge also provided further cover to Metro Nashville Police Department, allowing law enforcement to keep the school shooting records secret as long as the investigation is ongoing. Myles cited a police lieutenant’s assertion that the investigation could last another four months, but who knows if that could be another four weeks, four months or four years.
Meanwhile, leaks from MNPD – which the department has unsuccessfully investigated – allowed case records to be released with little context while fueling conspiracy theories in the community about the shooter’s motives.
The public interest has been ill-served by this ruling.
What this public records case is about
When the plaintiffs, including The Tennessean, other media organizations, and a state lawmaker, sued for access to the records, they sought the writings, musings and drawings of the shooter who murdered six people at the school on March 27, 2023, including three 9-year-old children and three adults.
The purpose was to understand the shooter’s motives. The Tennessean had no plans to publish the writing verbatim and instead fought to maintain the people’s access to public information.
This is a heart wrenching and tragic story and the parents of The Covenant School are genuinely concerned about re-victimizing their children in the first ever mass school shooting in Nashville.
The case has taken various twists since 2023 as Myles gave the parents standing even though they were not a formal party to the lawsuit. After the shooter’s parents transferred the writings to the Covenant parents, Myles accepted the argument that the latter owned the materials and had the right to display them or not.
Families of six Covenant victims respond to ruling in records lawsuit: 'We are thankful'
The Covenant School shooting may be unique – and hopefully there will never be another heinous act in our community like this again – but the ruling provides a blanket excuse in future cases for people to hide records from the public.
Public Records law was meant to keep the people informed
The Tennessee Public Records Act was enacted in 1957 to ensure the public could inspect and observe the ongoings of government.
Over the decades, lawmakers have made several exemptions limiting certain access, which Myles cited in her ruling.
But the judge created an incredibly broad exemption – one that should be challenged in court or fixed in a future session of the legislature.
Why a court’s witch hunt over a leak in The Covenant School shooting case is a problem
There are uncomfortable truths the public learns when sunshine is allowed to be a disinfectant to darkness, but citizens deserve reasonable access to be informed and engaged in democracy.
The copyright law exemption is not reasonable.
David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee. He is an editorial board member of The Tennessean. He hosts the Tennessee Voices videocast and curates the Tennessee Voices and Latino Tennessee Voices newsletters. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or find him on X at @davidplazas.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Covenant School shooting records ruling creates unreasonable exemption
