NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether news media are entitled to records related to a rape case against four former Vanderbilt University football players.
The Court of Appeals in September ruled that records sought by a statewide media coalition should not be made public because they’re part of a continuing police investigation. The decision reversed a lower court that found that some records given to police should be made available.
Frank Gibson of the Tennessee Press Association says this lawsuit has actually been decades in the making. He says a growing number of police departments across the state are withholding information that should be made public.
“They’ve already charged people in this one. There’s no more investigation going on. So a lot of these records, not all of them, but a lot of these records should be open.”
The media group had sued the city of Nashville after investigators refused to release video surveillance, photographs and other material that Vanderbilt University turned over to city police.