By Caroline Ghisolfi
Austin American-Statesman
Originally published March 10, 2023
Nine months after the massacre at Robb Elementary School that left 21 dead and 17 injured, the Uvalde district attorney and the Texas Department of Public Safety continue to fight the release of records, First Amendment attorney Laura Lee Prather told a district judge.
“Calls for transparency and accountability have run loud and clear. They’ve reverberated in public settings throughout the state,” said Prather, lead counsel for a consortium of more than a dozen news organizations who have sued to obtain a trove of records to report on the law enforcement failings in Uvalde. “The district attorney and DPS … have strived to mandate silence over anyone and everyone who was a part of the response that day.”
Arguing the coalition’s case Wednesday at the Travis County Civil and Family Courthouse in Austin, Prather asked Judge Daniella DeSeta of the 261st District Court to grant summary judgment, contending that the facts of the case are settled and do not need to be tried. DeSeta adjourned the hearing without issuing a decision.