Closing Down Faculty Through Open Records: The "Weaponization" of Records Requests

• In Event: The Law and Higher Education

Abstract

Organizations increasingly appear to use open records laws or judicial processes to deliberately undercut faculty work, through public and targeted attacks on individual faculty members. This study explores the weaponization of such laws and the resulting impact on critical issues including academic freedom and the willingness of faculty and researchers to engage in public scholarship. It further explores the strategies and motivations behind such attacks, and seeks to understand institutional and judicial responses to requests for disclosure of internal faculty documents or research.

Authors

• Azalea Hulbert, The Pennsylvania State University - University Park

• Neal H. Hutchens, The Pennsylvania State University - University Park

• Frank Joseph Fernandez, The Pennsylvania State University - University Park

• Kaitlin Quigley, The Pennsylvania State University