Stay current with legal news in Tennessee. This page features the latest news for and about the Tennessee legal community, either produced by the Tennessee Bar Association or collected from news sources.
Learn what's next for the Affordable Care Act in a webcast this week from the Tennessee Bar Association's Health Care Law Section. The webcast starts noon central time on Thursday, but lawyers are invited to stop by the Tennessee Bar Center to watch it live if they like. In addition, those attending live will be able to enjoy complementary ice cream and take part in a free 30-minute Q and A session following the webcast hosted by section leaders David Lewis of LifePoint Hospitals and Bill Young, solicitor general of the Tennessee Attorney General's Office.
Gang-related crimes statewide rose by nearly 25 percent in 2011, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. They have more than doubled since 2005, the first year gang crimes saw a significant spike. But the real story isn’t necessarily in cities -- in that same time period, cities with fewer than 50,000 residents saw gang crime more than triple. The Tennessean reports
The Tennessean says that Democrats and Republicans alike have been kicking around the idea of a special session to handle aspects of the Affordable Care Act. The biggest question is how to deal with a requirement that state governments set up special exchanges where residents can buy health coverage before the insurance mandate goes into effect in 2014. The state faces a critical deadline in January, when officials must demonstrate to the federal government that they’ll have Tennessee’s exchange ready in time.
An editorial in the Daily News Journal praises Circuit Court Judge Don Ash on his appointment to senior status. As the creator of Rutherford County’s Drug Court, the paper credits Ash for changing the lives of many who struggled with addiction. "His day-in and day-out commitment certainly will be missed in Rutherford and Cannon counties," the paper says.
In an editorial, the Times Free Press explains the results from the recent Chattanooga Bar Association's poll that rates the performance of trial court judges. Sessions Court Judge David Bales, who scored poorly, responded by saying the real decision-makers were the voters of Hamilton County, not the bar association. The paper says that "the lawyers' poll is a far more insightful and instructive guide. It merits voters' attention." Don't miss the readers' comments at the end of the story, though, which question the presumption that voters can't figure it out for themselves.
Jackson lawyer Kevin P. McMahon writes in a Jackson Sun opinion piece that the first six pages of Chief Justice Roberts’ opinion in the Affordable Care Act case should be required reading in every school, calling it a "much-needed civics lesson." McMahon writes that "it all comes down to an electorate that is both informed and engaged, and that holds government officials accountable." Becoming well-informed starts with a good civics lesson, he contends. "The chief justice and the dissenters have provided the grist," he writes. "We citizens now must make the effort to teach, and apply, what they have written."
Even cities with strict design standards that can reject a McDonald’s from building its golden arches can’t reject the architectural designs that are part of a place of worship, Nashville attorney George Dean said in explaining legal rights of religious architecture. Dean provided expert testimony for the Rutherford County government in defense of a lawsuit for approving the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro’s mosque plans in 2010. He talks about weighing religious land use rights against the open meeting meetings law, which is at the heart of the legal dispute over if the facility can open. The Daily News Journal has the story
National Public Radio has this story about the Justice Department's new Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, and the big item on his agenda, a long-awaited report on the flawed gun sting in Arizona, "Fast and Furious." The operation and the Justice Department's response ignited a rancorous political battle, culminating in a historic contempt citation against Attorney General Eric Holder. "He's not going to be unfair or someone who takes cheap shots," says former Bush administration official Michael Chertoff of Horowitz, "but I do think he'll call it like he sees it, even if he steps on some big toes."
The Mary Ann Williams Scholarship Benefit Dinner and Silent Auction recently raised more than $8,600, $7,500 of which was given in scholarships. The event was a fundraiser for Tennessee Teen Court Program Inc. Many members of the Sumner County Bar Association supported the fundraiser through generous donations, the Tennessean reports
Lincoln Memorial University's law school has been denied its appeal for accreditation by the American Bar Association, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports this afternoon. The school has 30 days to make a written appeal of the most recent decision by the bar association before it takes effect, according to the court documents filed in US. District Court.
David Kernell, who was convicted for hacking into the e-mail account of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, is now completing his undergraduate degree and looking toward law school. His father, State Rep. Mike Kernell, says his son's life was changed by his four-years entwined with the legal system. "He grew a lot. He went from a college student that was playing games to maybe someday becoming a defense attorney," Rep. Kernell said. WMC-TV has the story
NashvillePost.com looks into the "implosion" at the Nashville office of Miller & Martin, when there was an exodus of attorneys "on a scale unprecedented in the Nashville area." The change began last fall, the Post reports, when Melvin Malone, who had been chairman of the firm for only two years, was ousted from his position by a vote of the partners in favor of James Haley out of Chattanooga. With the change, members started trickling away, but on June 7, it was announced that no fewer than 37 members of Miller & Martin — including Malone — were leaving to join the Mississippi-based firm of Butler Snow O’Mara Stevens & Cannada. In one day, Butler Snow went from having two attorneys in the Cool Springs area to becoming one of the larger firms in Middle Tennessee.
The Memphis Bar Foundation is now soliciting grant applications from non-profit organizations. Grants are awarded to 501(c)(3) organizations for law-related programs and activities that further the foundation’s mission to advocate and support public awareness of the legal profession; promote social justice; promote legal education, and recognize professionalism among members of the bar. The typical grant award is less than $10,000. The deadline to apply is July 31. Contact MBA Executive Director Anne Fritz to learn more or download an application.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia drew unusually critical attention during this past Supreme Court term for comments he made in court and in his writing that seemed to some more political than judicial. For example, his dissent in the Arizona immigration case contained a harsh assessment of the Obama administration's immigration policy, which prompted a public rebuke from a fellow Republican-appointed judge and a call to resign from liberal columnist E.J. Dionne. The News Sentinel has this AP story
Learn about the mortgage settlement process in Tennessee at a free, one-hour webcast July 16, co-sponsored by the Tennessee Bar Association Access to Justice Committee and the Tennessee Attorney General's Office. The seminar, produced by Matt Pulle and Jeffrey L. Hill, will provide an overview of the issues surrounding the settlement, information on the benefits of the settlement — including benefits to military personnel — what attorneys need to know about the settlement, and information about the resources available through the Attorney General’s office. Learn more or register for "Pro Bono: Mortgage Relief for Pro Bono Clients."
A California study shows that judges who are first elected are more likely to be disciplined than initially appointed judges. Other findings of the report from the state Commission on Judicial Performance said that judges previously sanctioned by the commission made up a large share of disciplined judges; male judges were about twice as likely to be disciplined as female judges; and judges on small courts were more frequently sanctioned than judges on larger courts. ABAJournal.com has the details
Former state Sen. Rosalind Kurita on Thursday lost a federal appeal of her ouster as the Democratic nominee in her 2008 bid for re-election to the Tennessee General Assembly, the News Sentinel reports. In a brief ruling, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal judge's refusal to reinstate Kurita to the ballot after Democratic officials declared her 19-vote primary win as "incurably uncertain."
Circuit Court Judge Don Ash will step down from the 16th Judicial District position, effective Sept. 1, to become a senior judge. Ash announcded Thursday that he will continue serving on the Circuit Court bench in Murfreesboro until Gov. Bill Haslam appoints a successor to fill the remainder of his term, which runs until 2014 when the position will be placed on the ballot. Ash, who has spent 18 years on the bench, will be one of four standing senior judges in the state assigned on a temporary basis to hear cases statewide. The Daily News Journal has more
Attention is still focused on last week's decision and aftermath of the Affordable Care Act, but the Supreme Court delivered 64 other opinions this term — fewer than they have decided in any of the past 20 years. Bill Moyers Journal links to varied analyses of five other key decisions that have not gotten as much press as health care. National Public Radio's Nina Totenberg also looks into the end of the term, including the startling leak about the health care decision, other notable cases, and if this signals a shift in the court's idealogy. "You can't take one term in isolation," Tom Goldstein, publisher of SCOTUSblog, told NPR. "The arc of the law is solidly on the right. ... Anyone who thinks that John Roberts has now come out of the closet as his true liberal self is severely misguided. We have a track record here. He's a solidly conservative justice."
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