Arguments before the Tennessee Supreme Court in Promise Doe v. Don Sundquist, a case involving Tennessee’s adoption records law, will be aired at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 23, on Metro Government Channel 3 on InterMedia in Davidson County.
“The court welcomes the public scrutiny and hopes that many citizens will take advantage of this opportunity to view their judicial system at work,” Chief Justice Riley Anderson said. “It is part of the Supreme Court’s commitment to open and accessible courts.”
The court will decide whether a state law opening adoption records is constitutional. The law, if upheld, would allow adult adoptees to request their records. Birth mothers, adoptive parents and an adoption agency sued to prevent the 1996 law from taking effect, claiming it would violate their constitutional right to privacy. The state argued that the legislation did not change any rights, but only the method for obtaining information.
The cable station also will air Supreme Court oral arguments in four other cases at 7 p.m. Friday, June 25.
The five-member Supreme Court, the highest court in the state, reviews cases appealed from lower courts. Arguments before the court are limited to 30 minutes for each side.