Editorial: Public Deserves Answers About Officials' Roles in Baumgartner's Actions

In an editorial, the News Sentinel says former Judge Richard Baumgartner's fall has thrown the criminal justice system in Knox County into disarray, and therefore the public needs answers about how that happened. The paper calls for the legislature to remove the Public Records Act exemption for closed TBI investigative files, saying “lawmakers would demonstrate a commitment to openness and a respect for the people of Tennessee by exercising that power.”

In a related column, editor Jack McElroy asks pointed questions about  Baumgartner’s misdeeds to Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz, Judge Andrew Jackson IV, the Court of the Judiciary, Drug Court Director Ron Hanaver, attorney Russell Greene and District Attorney General Randy Nichols.