Tennessee court rules that private prisons must release documents
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, then it must be a public agency subject to public records law. A Tennessee judge ruled this week that a private prison is subject to the state public records law because it fulfills a state function. (see
story by the Tennessean). The judge said the prison, run by Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America, is a "functional equivalent" to a government agency because of its essential taxpayer-funded government duties. The company plans to appeal the ruling. For a state-by-state listing of prison access laws and visitation rules, see a great
guide put together by FOI Committee members Charles Davis and Joel Campbell.