An update on University of Kentucky v. The Kentucky Kernel.

A check of the Supreme Court website's Case Information link confirms that the case was "sent out for assignment" on June 5, 2020. This means that the issues have been fully briefed and the case has been submitted.

https://appellate.kycourts.net/SC/SCDockets/CaseDetails.aspx?cn=2019SC0…

We can expect an opinion from the Supreme Court in the coming weeks or months.

The Court will decide whether the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) erects a barrier to the right of access granted by Kentucky's open records law to records relating to sexual harassment investigations.

As a rule, Kentucky's law recognizes the public's right to such records in the context of other public agencies.

The university argues that this case, and others like it at Western Kentucky University and Kentucky State University, implicate student/complainant privacy interests protected under FERPA.

(Critics agree that FERPA — originally enacted to protect student "education records" — has been stretched beyond

reasonable limits as a means of avoiding university accountability.)

https://mobile.edweek.org/c.jsp?cid=25919971&bcid=25919971&rssid=259199…

The Kernel responds that redaction of personal student identifiers from the investigative records protects these privacy interests while simultaneously enabling the public to verify that the university discharged its duty to thoroughly and fairly investigate student complaints of sexual harassment and impose appropriate discipline (where warranted).

In a December 20, 2019, article, The Kernel skillfully summarized the case's tortured history.

http://www.kykernel.com/news/state-supreme-court-agrees-to-review-uk-ke…

For now, we wait (and hope the wheels of justice don't grind too slow).