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August 14, 2009
CCA loses open-records case brought by Alex Friendman of Prison Legal News
Private prison company loses open-records case
By The Associated Press
08.14.09
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Court of Appeals has ruled that private prison company Corrections Corporation of America is subject to the state's open-records law.
The Nashville-based company falls under the act because it performs the equivalent functions of a government agency by running state prisons, the unanimous three-judge panel said in its Aug. 5 opinion, Friedmann v. CCA.
The appeals panel’s opinion affirmed a July 2008 ruling by Davidson County Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman, which also found that CCA must provide documents to Alex Friedmann, an editor of a national prison magazine who sued seeking records on the company.
Friedmann, a former prisoner who is now an editor at Prison Legal News, sent a letter to CCA in April 2007 asking for information on settlements, judgments and complaints against the company.
He sued CCA when the company refused to turn over the information, claiming it wasn't subject to the open-records law.
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=21950
Posted by lois at August 14, 2009 09:53 PM