Graveside services were held earlier this month for retired Jackson defense attorney Roger Alan Staton. Staton passed away on Aug. 10. He was 68. Staton earned his law degree from Stetson University College of Law and became licensed in Tennessee in 1988.  

Knoxville attorney Lawrence McLean House Sr. passed away on Aug. 12 after an extended illness. He was 81. A graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, House began practicing law in Knoxville in 1967. A celebration of House’s life is scheduled for Aug. 28 at 5 p.m. EDT at Link-House Field on Cherokee Boulevard. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Coach House Memorial Fund at Knox Youth Sports, 5908 Lyons View Pike Knoxville, TN 37919. These gifts will be used at Link- House field.

The Judicial Ethics Committee last week released an advisory opinion addressing two issues. First, the committee concurred with a prior opinion which stated a judge should not have to recuse themselves in a contested matter when one or both of the litigants is a licensed attorney. The committee only issued a new opinion on the matter because the numbering of the Rules within the Code of Judicial Conduct has changed since the prior opinion was issued. Secondly, aside from narrow and specific circumstances in the Rules of Judicial Conduct, the committee found that the code does not require a judge to recuse themselves simply because an attorney is a member of the judge’s former law firm. Read the full opinion from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance, represented by the Attorney General’s Office, has asked a Davidson County chancellor to find former House Aide Cade Cothren in contempt of court and order him to comply with two subpoenas, the Tennessee Lookout reports. The state argues Cothren, who is ex-chief of staff for former House Speaker Glen Casada, didn’t give a good reason for refusing to testify before the Registry board or providing documents regarding a political action committee he secretly ran. The court filing came in response to claims by Cothren’s attorney that he should not have to testify before the board after invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in a letter to the board. Chancellor-elect I’Ashea Myles will hear the case in September. Myles is taking over the caseload of Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle as she steps down from the bench on Aug. 31.

Johnson City commissioners last week approved a recommendation to close the city’s half-century old jail, which houses a declining number of incarcerated females, News Channel 11 reports. The city began housing women serving jail sentences in 2002 through a contract with the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC), which paid $40.75 per day for each incarcerated woman. However, as the number of those incarcerated has declined – the jail averaged a census of just 48 as of June – the cost to house them has remained the same. “It does not serve a purpose for us to be in this space, especially when local taxpayers are no longer in a net gain position,” said Johnson City Mayor Joe Wise. In the recently ended fiscal year, expenses were roughly $36,000 higher than revenues. The jail is now set to close within weeks.

After 40 years of service, Germantown Municipal Court Judge Raymond Clift Jr. has announced he’ll be retiring from the bench effective Sept. 1, the Commercial Appeal reports. Clift became Germantown judge in 1982. Prior to that he was a public defender for Shelby County and was later Tennessee's assistant district attorney until 1972. He was Germantown alderman from 1978-1980. Germantown Mayor Mike Palazzolo said Clift’s legacy as judge “will be one of a deep commitment to the justice system, honor and the unparalleled ability to serve others with balance and fairness.” The Germantown Board of Mayor and Aldermen will appoint Clift's replacement to serve two years until the next election in 2024. The board will interview candidates for the position and hold a formal vote at a later date for the new judge.

Nineteen female judges will be sworn into office next week by Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee during an event hosted by the Women’s Political Collaborative of Tennessee (WPC). The event will take place on Aug. 30 at 5 p.m. CDT at Nashville’s Hermitage Hotel – the site where much of the behind-the-scenes work to ratify the 19th Amendment in Tennessee happened. Admission is free and tickets can be reserved on WPC’s website. While Davidson County saw a historic number of female judges elected this year, Knox County female candidates did not fare as well. The Knoxville News Sentinel has more on that story.   

The TBA is headed to Greeneville on Sept. 7 as part of its annual Court Square Series! Start the afternoon with a lunch and learn networking session with TBA leadership, followed by an ethics update from the Board of Professional Responsibility Disciplinary Counsel for Litigation Eric Fuller, and later a judicial panel featuring Greene County General Sessions and Juvenile Judge Kenneth Bailey and Jefferson County General Sessions Judge Will Roach. Finally, end the day with Bristol Motor Speedway's Vice President & Legal Counsel Julie Bennett who will give an intro to sports betting following the 2020 passage of the Tennessee Sports Gaming Act. Learn more and get registered here. Not going to be in Greeneville on Sept. 7? Head over to the TBA CLE website to find other stops in the 2022 Court Square Series!

Two former Pennsylvania judges convicted of orchestrating a scheme to send children to for-profit jails in exchange for kickbacks have been ordered to pay more than $200 million to the hundreds of victims impacted by the scandal, the Associated Press reports. Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan were convicted in what came to be known as the “kids-for-cash” scandal. The judges shut down a county-run juvenile detention center and accepted $2.8 million in illegal payments from the builder and co-owner of two for-profit lockups. Ciavarella ordered children as young as eight to detention for petty theft, jaywalking, truancy, smoking on school grounds and other minor infractions. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out some 4,000 juvenile convictions involving more than 2,300 kids after the scheme was uncovered. The two must pay $106 million in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive damages to nearly 300 people in the long-running civil suit.

Roy Octavius Parker, a Mississippi attorney and TBA senior counselor, died on July 25. He was 91. Parker earned his law degree from the University of Mississippi’s School of Law in 1959. During his career as a trial lawyer, Parker was a lifetime member and past president of the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association, which honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Parker was licensed in Tennessee in 1997. Graveside services with military honors for Parker were held on July 28 in Mississippi. Memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church P.O. Box 1725, Tupelo, MS 38802.