MPR: Nashville, “Legal Dodgeball,” and a Large GC Verdict

We see privilege issues discussed in judicial decisions, legal commentary, and mainstream news.  Here is my Monthly Privilege Roundup of interesting privilege issues for February 2017.

  • Recall that VP Mike Pence secured an appellate-court victory claiming that the privilege precluded disclosure of certain documents under Indiana’s public-records act.  The requester has now sought review by the Indiana Supreme Court.  Story here.
  • Sticking with public-records requests, a  journalist with The Modesto Bee complains that the City of Modesto’s use of the attorney-client privilege to withhold documents is a “form of legal dodgeball.”  Are cities not allowed to receive confidential, privileged advice? Make up your own mind.  Op-ed column accessible here.
  • Nashville’s DA, Glenn Funk, sued a local TV station’s investigative reporter, Phil Williams, for libel after he published a story stating that Funk blackmailed a criminal defendant to drop a civil case in exchange for dismissing pending domestic-violence charges.  A Nashville judge recently ruled that Tennessee’s journalist privilege did not apply, and ordered the reporter to disclose his investigative documents.  Read the story by The Tennessean‘s  Stacey Barchenger here.