TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

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Nashville Faces Huge Backlog of Airbnb Codes Violations

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 20, 2019
News Type: Legal News
Short-term rental violations and complaints are flooding Metro Nashville's Codes Administration so quickly that new investigations into problematic Airbnbs are delayed up to four months, the Tennessean reports. Since 2017, Nashville has brought 1,084 enforcement cases against homeowners operating short-term rentals without permits in the past two years, and there are 512 Metro cases involving rentals that advertised higher occupancy or more bedrooms than their permits allow them to offer. An Environmental Court judge issued the first Metro-area jail sentence to an Airbnb operator in February when he refused to stop running an unpermitted rental.

Resolution to Expel Rep. Byrd Not on House Calendar for Special Session

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 20, 2019
The likelihood of the House hearing a resolution calling for Rep. David Byrd's expulsion on Friday is waning, the Tennessean reports. Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, filed a resolution to be heard during Friday's special legislative session that would oust Byrd, but House Minority Leader Karen Camper confirmed the item will not be placed on the House calendar. House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, said that it would need to be brought up under the "unfinished business" portion of the meeting. It's unclear who made the decision not to include the resolution on the calendar, the paper reports.

Networking Event for Government Lawyers in Knoxville, Aug. 22

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 20, 2019
News Type: Upcoming
Meet Local is a networking event for local government attorneys or attorneys interested in the practice area. Join the group Aug. 22 from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Peter Kern Library, 407 Union Ave., in Knoxville. Share news and updates from your department, enjoy time with colleagues and make new connections. Don’t miss it! Please RSVP for the Meet Local event. This event is paired with a TBA CLE program.

Nashville Council Set to Approve Lawsuit Settlement After Exposing Employees' Private Data

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 19, 2019
News Type: Legal News
The Nashville Metro Council is set to approve a $22,000 payment tomorrow to settle a lawsuit stemming from a 2015 incident that exposed the personal data of several Metro employees, the Nashville Scene reports. Twenty-one employees saw their social security numbers exposed after Metro posted them online in its human resources training manual, and two employees became victims of identity theft.

Seersucker Flash Mob in Chattanooga

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 19, 2019
News Type: Upcoming
With Seersucker Flash Mobs planned all over the state, the Chattanooga Bar Association has announced their version, which will take place on August 28 at noon, at the Hamilton County Courthouse steps, 600 Market Street. Read about flash mobs in other cities here.

Hamblen County Trustee Indicted for Theft, Coverup

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 19, 2019
News Type: Legal News
Hamblen County Trustee John Baskette has been indicted on charges that he pocketed nearly $90,000 in government cash, fabricated records to hide the theft, then replaced the missing funds after state officials launched an investigation, Knoxnews reports. A grand jury recently indicted Baskette on 40 counts of failure to deposit public funds, two counts of official misconduct, one count of destruction of government records, one count of theft over $60,000 and one count of writing a worthless check over $1,000. An investigation by the Tennessee Comptroller's Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation found Baskette withheld $89,478 from county coffers after finding himself in debt personally.

Tennessee AOC Launches 'Court Talk' Podcast

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 19, 2019
News Type: Legal News
The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts has launched a new podcast called Tennessee Court Talk, which brings together law experts to discuss topics affecting judges, attorneys, law students and the public.The first episode focuses on Civil Pattern Jury Instructions. Judge Butch Childers (Ret.) and Nashville attorney John Day, two members of the Tennessee Judicial Conference Pattern Jury Instructions Civil Committee, discuss the importance of jury instructions and how critical they can be to the outcome of a case, the evolution of the committee, and advice to judges on delivering instructions to a jury.

Appeals Court Rules State Wrongly Withheld Public Records

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 19, 2019
News Type: Legal News
TheTennessee Court of Appeals on Friday ruled the state wrongly kept routine public records from multiple agencies secret, the Tennessean reports. The ruling came after the state attorney general's office refused to release state travel records, emails and other public documents related to Jason Locke, former acting director of the TBI, and another public official while multiple agencies investigated allegations that the two were having an affair. The appeals court embraced and strengthened the state's public records laws and said public documents stay public even when they are ensnared in an ongoing criminal investigation.

Civil Rights Groups Sue Over New Voter Registration Law

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 19, 2019
News Type: Legal News
Several voter registration organizations are asking a judge to stop Tennessee’s new restrictions for signing up voters from taking effect in October, saying the law has already curtailed their ability to enroll voters in communities of color and other historically disenfranchised groups, the Associated Press reports. In a Nashville federal court filing Friday, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law wrote that Tennessee’s new law has left the groups that filed the lawsuit with the choice of either halting or significantly scaling back voter registration efforts ahead of the 2020 elections because of the financial risks and exposure to possible criminal prosecution.

Study Shows Sentencing Gap Closing

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 16, 2019
News Type: Legal News
A new study shows disparities in sentencing based on race are on the decline, the ABA Journal reports. One reason for the decline at the federal level was the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which reduced the disparity in sentences for crack vs. powder cocaine, according to one of the study's authors. The data was mixed on the sentencing gap between Latinos and white people at the federal level. The gap declined only when noncitizen Latinos were excluded from the data.
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