Archote v. Tate

Case Number: 2026-C-01200

Court: Supreme Court of Louisiana

Client: Joshua Archote

Background: In 2022, reporter Joshua Archote — then-editor of Louisiana State University’s student-run newspaper, The Reveille — submitted a public records request to LSU seeking records of an investigation into a former Greek Life administrator accused of catfishing students. LSU denied Archote’s request, so Archote, represented by the Tulane Law First Amendment Clinic, sued.

A district court sided with LSU, which argued that a 2021 court decision shielding similar records precluded Archote from bringing a lawsuit. The First Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower-court ruling and remanded the case. 

After a trial on the merits, the district court denied Archote’s request for an order requiring LSU to disclose the records under the Louisiana Public Records Law, finding the administrator’s privacy interests outweighed the public’s interest in the records. Archote again appealed, and the First Circuit ordered LSU to release the records, concluding that any purported privacy interest didn’t outweigh Archote’s constitutional right to access the records. 

LSU asked the Louisiana Supreme Court to review the lower-court ruling. Reporters Committee’s Louisiana-based attorney, Virginia Hamrick, began representing Archote alongside the Tulane Law First Amendment Clinic in 2026.

Co-counsel: Tulane Law First Amendment Clinic, Bruce Hamilton

Filings:

2026-10-23: Opposition to application for writ of review