MLK50: Justice Through Journalism has joined a lawsuit with other local media to get appropriate access to Shelby County’s juvenile court delinquency proceedings.
The lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of MLK50, The Daily Memphian, The Commercial Appeal and WREG. It asserts that the juvenile court of Memphis and Shelby County and Juvenile Court Judge Tarik B. Sugarmon are violating the Tennessee Rule of Juvenile Practice & Procedure Rule, which governs access to juvenile court.
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The rule says that “[d]ependent and neglect cases shall not be open to the public,” but “[d]elinquent and unruly cases are open to the public.” But the court has adopted a policy — that doesn’t appear to be documented anywhere — requiring the press and public to submit a request, 48 hours in advance, to attend a hearing relating to specific youth and obtain permission from the court and Judge Sugarmon.
“In Tennessee, court rules are clear that juvenile delinquency proceedings should be open by default,” said Paul McAdoo, Tennessee local legal initiative attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, who is representing the media coalition.
“In Shelby County, however, the juvenile court has put in place a requirement that shuts the door on reporters who are there to attend delinquency proceedings,” he said. “This unlawful policy deprives the public of timely, accurate information about how the court is handling the cases that come before it, particularly at a time when Shelby County is incarcerating more children than in recent years.”
The lawsuit was sparked by MLK50 when youth life and justice reporter Rebecca Cadenhead began facing resistance from the court to attend juvenile delinquency proceedings. As the lawsuit asserts, even as she and other reporters sought to follow the court’s policy, they “experienced undue delays in receiving permission to attend proceedings, including not receiving a response to their requests for permission to attend until after the proceeding occurred, and sometimes not receiving a response at all. In addition, in certain instances, Plaintiffs’ requests for permission have been improperly denied by Juvenile Court staff.”
The media coalition is seeking an injunction to prevent the juvenile court from requiring reporters to seek permission before attending delinquency hearings.
“We’re committed to doing our part to protect the public’s right to know what’s going on in these hearings,” said Charity Scott, managing editor at MLK50. “If the people can’t access public proceedings, how will they know if the juvenile justice system is upholding its obligations to Shelby County’s children?”
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