TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Jul 5, 2024

Nashville Chancellor I'Ashea Myles late Thursday ruled that the Covenant School shooter's writings should not be made public "at this time." The Tennessean reports that in her 60-page ruling, Myles was swayed in part by the argument brought by a group of Covenant School families, who said that materials created by the shooter, including the shooter’s journals, were protected by copyright laws and should not be treated as public records. The shooter’s parents transferred ownership of these materials to a group of Covenant families, allowing them to assert a copyright interest in them. Following the shooting in March 2023, reporters and others requested that the Metro Nashville Police Deprtment (MNPD) release records related to the shooting, which MNPD denied. In response, six groups sued the city about a month after the shooting, seeking a court order to grant them access to several different records, most notably a pair of journals found in the shooter’s home and car.