The Liberty Justice Center (LJC) has taken a significant step in its ongoing legal battle to ensure First Amendment rights for journalists and the public in Tennessee. On March 13, LJC filed an opening brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, seeking to overturn a previous court decision that allowed the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Judicial Advisory Commission to conduct rulemaking meetings without media or public access.
The controversy began when the Advisory Commission decided in 2018 to close its quarterly rulemaking meetings, which had previously been open to the public. The Liberty Justice Center responded by filing a lawsuit in June 2022 on behalf of Dan McCaleb, Executive Editor of The Center Square news service.
In March 2023, a preliminary order from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee required these meetings to be reopened during ongoing litigation. The court stated that transparency could enhance public confidence and lead to better rules. However, this decision was reversed in November 2024 when the court dismissed the case, arguing that closed meetings were not subject to First Amendment access rights since their contents were not considered public information.
In its latest brief, LJC is asking the Sixth Circuit to reverse this dismissal and affirm that both press and public have a constitutional right to attend these sessions.
Jacob Huebert, President of LJC and attorney for McCaleb, emphasized: “The First Amendment protects the public’s right to access meetings of bodies like Tennessee’s Judicial Advisory Commission so they can write and speak about what their government is doing.” He expressed hope that "the Sixth Circuit will recognize that and restore the rights of our client, all journalists, and all Tennesseans."
The case McCaleb v. Long was initially filed on June 13, 2022, at Nashville's U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.