Topic: open meetings act

Dunn’s proposal to harness technology for open meetings demonstrated

By Christine Anne Piesyk | July 20, 2008 |

NASHVILLE – Representative Bill Dunn (R-Knoxville), having successfully passed a bill that harnesses technology for the purpose of opening the government process to the public, demonstrated the technology this week. Dunn said he was looking to solve some of the problems associated with the recent dust-up over the Sunshine Law in Knoxville. He says he believes that with technology expanding the way people communicate, using this technology could solve some of the problems with the Open Meetings Act.

“With the technology available today, we need to update the Open Meetings Act. We need to make it easier for officials to conduct business, while balancing the public’s right to know. I’m pleased the legislature was willing to give it a try, and hopefully today will be the dawn of a new era.” — Rep. Bill Dunn

Dunn’s bill allows elected bodies to set up websites where they can instant message one another. «Read the rest of this article»

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House GOP review

By Tennessee Republicans | April 20, 2008 |

The House GOP Review is a weekly feature that gives Tennesseans an in-depth look at what our Republican state legislators have been working on this week, and a glimpse into what’s planned for the coming week at our state house

House GOP leaders pleased with Supreme Court verdict upholding lethal injection

House GOP leaders said this week that they were pleased with the opinion issued by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Baze vs. Rees case that upheld the use of lethal injection as a means of execution. In a 7-2 ruling Wednesday, the Supreme Court held that Kentucky’s three-drug protocol did not amount to cruel and unusual punishment.

In September of 2007, U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger ruled that Tennessee’s method of lethal injection was unconstitutional. Soon after, Governor Phil Bredesen issued a moratorium pending the outcome of the death penalty case facing the U.S. Supreme Court. As a result, two executions were put in jeopardy of not being carried out. Pervis T. Payne was scheduled to be executed on December 12, 2007, for two counts of murder stemming from a brutal stabbing he committed in Shelby County. Mass-murderer Paul Dennis Reid gunned down seven victims execution style, killing more people than anyone else on Tennessee’s death row, and drawing seven death sentences.

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