State Library and Archives Makes Historic Supreme Court Case Files Available to Public - Articles

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State Library and Archives Makes Historic Supreme Court Case Files Available to Public

Posted by: Kate Prince on Jun 24, 2021

The new Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA) building has made available more than 10,000 boxes of full state Supreme Court case files, some that date back to the early 19th century. The high court’s opinions in those cases have long been available to the public, but the associated case files have not. According to the Administrative Office of the Courts, TSLA staff worked for roughly 15 years to painstakingly clean and index the records—a massive undertaking led by Court of Appeals Judge Andy Bennett. “If you really want to go behind the opinion, these documents are great,” Bennett said. The TSLA also houses a legislative history collection containing old volumes of state codes and recordings of legislative hearings. The new building opened in April and is located at 1001 Rep. John Lewis Way N. in Nashville.