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.
Chattanooga lawyer John McConnell Wolfe Jr. was censured by the Board of Professional Responsibility on April 13 for not filing a lawsuit in time after a personal injury action against a Veterans’ Administration Hospital was denied. The lawsuit was dismissed because of the failure to comply with the statutory deadlines, then Wolfe failed to notify his client. Therefore he violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3 (diligence), 1.4 (communication), 3.2 (expediting litigation), and 8.4 (misconduct). Download the BPR release
The use of Twitter is putting reporters on a collision course with judges who fear it could threaten a defendant’s right to a fair trial. The tension was highlighted recently by a Chicago court’s decision to ban anyone from tweeting or using other social media at the upcoming trial of a man accused of killing Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson’s family. A spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union said Tweeting and social media are "merely the 21st century version of what reporters have always done — gather information and disseminate it." But the judge in the Illinois case fears that feverish tweeting on smartphones could distract jurors and witnesses when testimony begins next Monday. "Tweeting takes away from the dignity of a courtroom," said a media liaison for Cook County Judge Charles Burns. "The judge doesn't want the trial to turn into a circus." The Associated Press has more. The First Amendment Center reports on a Kansas judge who declared a mistrial in a murder trial after a newspaper reporter tweeted a photo that included the grainy profile of a juror, and how many college coaches are considering Twitter bans for student-athletes.
News from the Environmental Law Section
Congratulations to William Airhart, Vanderbilt University Law School (class of 2012) as winner of the Jon Hastings Memorial Award Writing Competition.This writing competition sponsored by the TBA Environmental Law Section is in memory of Jon Hastings, one of the founding members of the Section. William's paper is titled "After AEP: The Climate Change Tort and the Social Cost of Carbon."
Legislators have reached what Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris calls "the stalemate place" on how Tennessee's top judges should be selected and are now racing to delay a decision until next year. After a convoluted series of events, the Senate has before it two proposals for amending the state constitution. The two competing proposals are SJR183 by Norris, R-Collierville, and SJR710 by Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Collierville. Norris's bill, as amended, would repeal the current constitutional provision declaring that top judges "shall be elected by the qualified voters of the state" and declare instead that the legislature is "authorized to establish, by law, a system of merit-based appointments with retention elections for the judges of the Supreme Court and for the judges of the intermediate appellate courts." Kelsey's measure would adopt a system similar to that used by the federal government. The governor would appoint the judges, subject to confirmation by the legislature. The News Sentinel has the story
Diabetic supply firm AmMed Direct will pay an $18 million penalty to settle government claims that it wrongly billed Medicare for diabetes testing supplies and other products in a bait-and-switch scheme. The penalties, which also include a $2.8 million payment to a whistleblower in the long-running dispute, were revealed Friday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Most of the money -- $17.6 million -- will go to the U.S. government with the state of Tennessee getting $439,003 as part of the civil settlement. The Tennessean has the details
The biggest difference between the new Board of Judicial Conduct, if signed by the governor, and the current system is that it has new provisions to hold judges more accountable, such as making it more difficult to dismiss complaints against them. The legislation would terminate the Court of the Judiciary in July and replace it with the 16-member Board of Judicial Conduct that would have a similar mission of ensuring that judges are ethical and fit to serve on the bench. The News Sentinel has this AP story
A Union University professor offers his take on judicial activism following President Obama's comments on the U.S. Supreme Court and health care law. Read Sean Evans' column in the Jackson Sun as he looks at judicial activism and the differences on the court between "originalism" and “living Constitutionalists."
In an editorial, the Times Free Press discusses the differing views about how judges in our state should be selected. "In addition to character, judges should be chosen on the basis of their knowledge of the law, which is something that voters may have a hard time judging," the paper says. "Good candidates are understandably difficult to find -- and hard to choose between -- regardless of who picks them." Read the editorial
At its April 12-13 meeting in Washington, D.C., the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 decided not to propose changes to ABA policy prohibiting nonlawyer ownership of law firms. "Since its creation in 2009, the commission has undertaken a careful study of alternative law practice structures," co-chairs Jamie S. Gorelick and Michael Traynor said. "Based on the commission's extensive outreach, research, consultation, and the response of the profession, there does not appear to be a sufficient basis for recommending a change to ABA policy on nonlawyer ownership of law firms." The ABA has more
A three-judge panel of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals voted 2-1 on Friday to deny the state Attorney General's Office's application for extraordinary appeal of Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood's decision to grant new trials in the slayings of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. Blackwood ordered new trials for all four defendants in the case, but the state sought to appeal his rulings in only three, conceding there was proof former Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner was impaired during Vanessa Coleman's trial. Appellate judges Alan E. Glenn and Thomas T. Woodall ruled the state fell short in its argument that Blackwood's decision was "fundamentally illegal" or "without legal authority." Judge Robert W. Wedemeyer disagreed with his colleagues, saying he would have granted the emergency appeal. Read more in the News Sentinel
In a March email obtained recently by the News Sentinel under the Tennessee Open Records Act, John Gill, special counsel to District Attorney General Randy Nichols, complained to the state Attorney General's Office about Blackwood, saying he "hates the News Sentinel, and I fear he is playing fast and loose with off the record emails and communications he states are to avoid the newspaper from knowing." Blackwood denied the allegations when asked by the News Sentinel.
Last week in California, Debra Tate, younger sister of murdered actress Sharon Tate, testified at a parole hearing for mass murderer Charles Manson. The panel denied parole for Manson, 77, in his 12th and possibly final bid for freedom. Tate and Barbara Hoyt, a Manson family member whose testimony helped put the killers in prison, have bonded in their long quest to keep those responsible for the murders behind bars. Read about this unlikely friendship in the News Sentinel
The Tennessee Court of Appeals last week issued an opinion affirming the decision of Davidson County Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman to uphold a new procedure set by the state Department of Correction to try to ensure a death row inmate is unconscious before fatal drugs are administered under the state's three-drug lethal injection process. Under this ruling, after a single dose of sodium thiopental is given, the warden will brush his hand over the inmate's eyelashes, call out the inmate's name and gently shake the inmate. If there is no response, he will give the go-ahead for the next two drugs. This ruling paves the way for the executions of four death row inmates. The News Sentinel has the story
The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is proposing comprehensive amendments to the Sixth Circuit Rules and Internal Operating Procedures. Send your comments to the proposed changes to Clerk Leonard Green by July 12 to ca06-rules_comments@ca6.uscourts.gov
The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis will host the Red Carpet Premiere of "Duty of the Hour," a documentary on the life of Benjamin L. Hooks, April 20 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at The Orpheum Theatre. The event is part of the Hooks Institute Annual Civil and Human Rights Conference taking place April 18-29. Learn more about the documentary and the conference or call the Hooks Institute at (901) 678-3974.
"I am sincerely sorry everybody is going to have to go through this again," Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood said Thursday when he ordered that Jayson Bailey, previously convicted of raping his stepdaughter, get a new trial. This case is one of many upended in the fallout from former Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner's abuse of prescription painkillers and related crimes. "If the allegations are true, it breaks my heart (for the girl). If the allegations are not true, this man is falsely incarcerated," Blackwood said. The News Sentinel has more
Prosecutors face steep hurdles to win a second-degree murder conviction against neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, experts say. Prosecutor Angela Corey chose a tough route with the murder charge, they say, which could send Zimmerman to prison for life if he's convicted, over manslaughter, which usually carries 15-year prison terms and covers reckless or negligent killings. The Johnson City Press carried this AP story
Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor joined with the three women currently on the court to mark the 30th anniversary of the start of her trailblazing service. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor recounted the inspiration they drew from O'Connor's nomination by President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Then a young prosecutor in New York City, Sotomayor said O'Connor's rise to the high court showed women that they would have greater opportunities in the legal system. Tri-Cities.com has this historic photo and story from AP
Memphis's Community Legal Center celebrates a birthday this year -- 20 years of providing legal services to the poor. “We’re a small organization -- an independent legal service,” Executive Director Meg Jones says. The center has three part-time staff attorneys, one with a general focus, one who does family law and one who is an immigration attorney. There are also about 200 attorneys who help by taking cases on a pro bono basis. And the center has a translator, in addition to several volunteers. Read this profile in the Daily News Journal
Nashville Mayor Karl Dean may be called to testify next month in a Metro Nashville schools redistricting lawsuit now that federal Judge Kevin Sharp has ruled that attorneys suing the school district may call him and various Metro officials to the stand. Three years ago, Jeffrey and Frances Spurlock sued the school district, claiming its 2009 rezoning plan was meant to move black students from the Hillwood and Hillsboro zones to the predominantly black Pearl-Cohn cluster “to make white families more comfortable.” They plan to introduce as evidence charter school enrollment, suspension rates by race and advanced programs in racially isolated schools compared to more diverse ones. The Tennessean has the story
Hawkins County General Sessions Judge James F. "Jay" Taylor reached an agreement with the Court of the Judiciary today that he will be suspended immediately and resign effective May 1. Earlier this week, Taylor invoked his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in response to a request for information about the possible misuse of funds. In February, he invoked his right against self-incrimination in response to four theft-related charges. Taylor had been scheduled to stand trial on April 25. Download the order
