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Nashville Passes Amendment to Create Police Oversight Board

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Nov 7, 2018
Nashvillians voted overwhelmingly yesterday to create a new citizen-led panel to oversee local police, The Tennessean reports. The measure passed by a margin of 59 percent to 41 percent. An ongoing legal battle concerning the amendment, mounted by the Nashville Fraternal Order of Police, will be taken up by the Tennessee Court of Appeals on Dec. 5. The police union argued that supporters did not collect enough signatures to put the referendum on the ballot.

Lee, Blackburn Win, Dems Gain House Seat, Salinas Doesn’t Concede

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Nov 7, 2018
Besides a record turnout, Election Day brought few surprises, with Republicans Marsha Blackburn winning a seat in the U.S. Senate and Bill Lee the governor’s race. Democrats added one extra member to their State House caucus, but the makeup of the Tennessee General Assembly remains mostly unchanged. The Nashville Post has a roundup of legislative races of note from across the state. Only one result remains unclear – Gabby Salinas, who challenged incumbent Republican Sen. Brian Kelsey in District 31, had not conceded as of Wednesday afternoon. The Commercial Appeal reports that Salinas, down by a margin of 1,520 votes, has asked for all provisional ballots to be counted.

Jury Rules in Favor of Coal Ash Cleanup Workers

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Nov 7, 2018
A federal jury today ruled that Jacobs Engineering, the contractor in charge of cleanup efforts following the 2008 Kingston Fossil Fuel Power Plant spill, failed to keep laborers safe during the process and likely caused the poisoning of many workers, Knoxnews reports. More than 30 workers have died since the cleanup and more than 250 are sick or dying. The verdict means the workers will get a chance to seek damages, including money to cover medical testing for all laborers who worked at the site.

ABA President Opposes Proposed Rule to Reduce Rights for Immigrant Minors

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Nov 7, 2018
ABA President Bob Carlson sent a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday, opposing the agency’s proposal to unilaterally change a 1997 legal settlement laying out rights for minors in the immigration system, The ABA Journal reports. The settlement restricts the amount of time minors can be held in detention and sets standards for their care while in government custody. “The proposed regulations would essentially authorize the indefinite detention of children and codify the practice of family separation,” Carlson wrote.

Sessions Resigns at Request of President Trump

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Nov 7, 2018
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned today, at the request of President Donald Trump, Fox News reports. Matthew Whitaker, chief of staff to Sessions, will become acting attorney general. Sessions wrote in his resignation letter that during his time of service, the Justice Department “restored and upheld the rule of law” and “worked to implement the law enforcement agenda based on the rule of law that formed a central part” of Trump’s presidential campaign.

Volunteers Needed for Saturday Legal Clinic in Nashville

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Nov 5, 2018

Lipscomb University's Fred D. Gray Institute for Law, Justice & Society will host a free legal clinic in Nashville at 9 a.m. on Saturday at Schrader Lane Church of Christ, 1234 Schrader Lane, Nashville, 37208. It will be an advice-only clinic with no expectation that volunteers take on continuing representation. For more information or to volunteer, contact Randy Spivey, 615-966-2503.

Legal Industry Shows Growth in September, October

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Nov 5, 2018
The legal services sector continues to add jobs, gaining 600 in October, and following a gain of 1,000 jobs in September, The ABA Journal reports. The numbers come from seasonally adjusted and revised numbers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of legal industry jobs for last month is 1,100 more jobs than in October 2017. The legal services sector includes not only lawyers, but also secretaries, paralegals and other law-related workers.

SCOTUS Allows Trial in Challenge to Census Citizenship Question

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Nov 5, 2018
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to block a trial in a challenge to the U.S. Commerce Department’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, USA Today reports. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented, while it’s unclear how the other justices voted. Federal district and appeals court judges had approved the depositions and green-lighted the trial, which was set to start soon.

Tennessee Death Row Inmates Seek Firing Squad Executions

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Nov 5, 2018
Lawyers for four Tennessee death row inmates have filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to allow them to choose a firing squad as an alternative to lethal injection or the electric chair, The Tennessean reports. Included among the inmates is David Earl Miller, who is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 6. The filing asks the court to postpone the execution date until the court can hear the case.

Prosecutors Recommend Death Penalty for Man Convicted of Murdering Officer

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Nov 5, 2018
After Tremaine Wilbourn was found guilty of murder, the family of slain Memphis Police Officer Sean Bolton rejected an offer that would have sent Wilbourn to prison for life, The Commercial Appeal reports. Prosecutors are pushing for the death penalty, saying that the state has three aggravating circumstances surrounding the case. Wilbourn did not testify during his trial, in which he was convicted of shooting Bolton eight times in 2015.
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