Appellate Practice Section

Audio recordings from cases in Tennessee appellate courts will be available online starting this spring, and some attorneys and judges are upset. They say that easy access to sensitive information from oral arguments could produce privacy issues since there is no exception for juveniles or families going through personal divorce proceedings. Judge Frank Clement of the Court of Appeals wrote a three-page letter to the Supreme Court expressing his concerns. The Court told Nashville’s News 2 that the intent was to continue to promote the transparency and openness of the courts. “We do recognize a concern for possible misuse of the audio files and are developing measures to mitigate possible misuse of the proposed system."