Thanks to the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government for sending this to me. After a challenge by WBIR in Knoxville, a Meigs County judge reversed course and opened proceedings and records in a juvenile court case involving murder, including a video recording of the initial closed hearing.

The case involves a 15-year-old who is accused of shooting her father in the head. After getting access to court records, WBIR reported more details of the allegations against the teen. Among them: She was angry that her father was trying to keep her from her boyfriend.

The development is a good reminder for journalists when covering juveniles in the justice system: Juvenile court proceedings are presumed open and decisions to close proceedings must overcome the compelling public interest in transparency in the judicial system. A Tennessee statute further provides that petitions and orders in juvenile cases are open when the alleged conduct of the juvenile, if done by an adult, would constitute first-degree murder or other specific crimes.

It’s important that we maintain transparency of our juvenile justice system so that there is accountability into what happens there. (A recent John Oliver show delved into this subject, mentioning at least two Tennessee cases — in Rutherford County and in Knoxville — where juvenile justice had gone off the rails.)

WBIR was represented by Paul McAdoo with the Local Legal Initiative of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. He wrote in his filing: “Based on information provided to WBIR, it appears the Court has closed the proceedings in this case based solely on the fact that the accused is  a juvenile. That is not the law.”

To learn more about the legal issues in closing juvenile court proceedings in Tennessee, read: “After challenge by WBIR, judge opens juvenile court proceedings, records” on the TCOG blog and the article on the Reporters Committee website. Both have links to the McAdoo’s briefs in the case.