'Star' files lawsuit

The Indianapolis Star filed a lawsuit Thursday with the Marion County Superior Court against IU to inspect and copy its "investigatory findings" surrounding the disciplinary action against and eventual firing of former basketball coach Bob Knight.\nThe official complaint filed by The Star claims IU violated Indiana's Access to Public Records Act. This act gives individuals and agencies the opportunity to review and copy public documents.\nAccording to The Star's complaint "IU waived its APRA exemptions when it publicly disclosed significant portions of the 'investigatory findings' through its dissemination of IU's 'Summary Report of the Trustee Review Regarding Neil Reed Allegations Concerning The Conduct of Coach Bob Knight' and made subsequent public statements about these 'investigatory proceedings.'"\nSusan Dillman, director of University media relations, said IU plans to vigorously defend the lawsuit.\n"IU followed the law in all respects," she said. "If you look at the Public Access laws, the opinion is consistent with IU's actions."\nTim Franklin, editor in chief of The Indianapolis Star, said the newspaper filed the lawsuit after asking the University for the documents and filing a request with the Indiana Public Access counselor.\n"We've tried every way imaginable short of a lawsuit," Franklin said. "This has been a very controversial issue in the state and readers are very interested. It's part of our public responsibility."\nWhen IU first looked into Knight's actions last spring and again this fall, Franklin said IU provided the media with detailed information about its findings. The Star is interested in seeing notes on both investigations in order to help the public draw its own conclusions with a full understanding of what took place.\n"IU's argument is that they did release the basic findings of the investigation and are not required to release anything else," he said. "Our argument is if you are going to release some of the findings then you have to release everything. We believe there is case law on our side."\nFranklin said The Star is not looking for anything specific in the records.\n"People in the community are still talking about it," he said. "There are a lot of questions about Knight's behavior on the one hand and the University's action on the other"