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TBA Law Blog

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Audit Shows Lawmaker Spending Campaign Money Illegally

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Feb 18, 2019
Tennessee state Rep. Harold Love Jr., D-Nashville, was found by a Tennessee Registry of Election Finance audit to have spent thousands of dollars of campaign money for dry cleaning, trips, meals and other questionable purchases, The Tennessean reports. Love was also found in violation of reporting laws, failing to report $7,830 in donations, failing to provide enough data for more than $1,000 in contributions and failing to properly itemizes thousands in expenditures. Love pushed back against the allegations, saying that many of the questionable purchases had been made for constituents. House Speaker Glen Casada, R-Franklin, said there should be an investigation before any conclusions are drawn.

AG Opinion Issued Only to Legislator

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Feb 15, 2019
News Type: Clarification
TBA Today yesterday included an item about a recent opinion issued by Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery. The item was based on reporting from the Tennessean that said Slatery issued the opinion in response to a question from Rep. Mike Stewart and the Tennessee Equality Project. The AG's office has clarified that, noting that the opinion was issued only to Rep. Stewart, as the office does not issue opinions to advocacy organizations.

Court Adopts Changes to Rule 17

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Feb 15, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court has adopted amendments to the uniform judgment document set forth in Rule 17. On Sept. 25, the court filed an order seeking public comments on the proposed amendments. The court received five comments prior to the Nov. 27 deadline. The amendments will take effect immediately.

Class-Action Suit Filed Against City of Jackson Over Arrest Warrants

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Feb 15, 2019
News Type: Legal News
A class-action lawsuit alleges the city of Jackson and Jackson officials failed to properly handle arrest warrants, violating the constitutional rights of an unknown number of arrestees, The Jackson Sun reports. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, alleges the city of Jackson, Jackson Police Chief Julien Wiser and Jackson City Court Clerk Daryl Hubbard failed to adequately train and supervise employees, resulting in arrest warrants not being sworn before a magistrate or clerk as is required by law. The lawsuit has two named plaintiffs but estimates that more than 1,000 individuals may have been impacted by this alleged oversight.

Former Vandy Doc Accused of Abusing Hospital Records Privileges Sues Hospital for Refusing to Defend Him

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Feb 15, 2019
News Type: Legal News
A former Vanderbilt University Medical Center doctor who is accused of using his hospital privileges to snoop into the private medical records of his ex-wife has filed a lawsuit against the hospital for refusing to defend him in court, the Tennessean reports. Dr. Douglas Burka, who was a surgical resident at Vanderbilt from 2010 to 2012, recently faced lawsuits in Maryland and Maine that accused him of using his position as a doctor to access the confidential medical, gynecological and mental health records of his ex-wife. Burka filed his new lawsuit against Vanderbilt earlier this month, arguing the hospital had a duty to defend him against the lawsuits from his ex-wife. Generally, hospitals agree to defend their doctors against lawsuits, but can void those agreements if the doctor isn’t acting within the scope of their job, or if their conduct is considered fraudulent or criminal.

Justice Ginsburg Returns to the Bench

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Feb 15, 2019
News Type: U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is returned to the U.S. Supreme Court on today for the first time since her surgery for lung cancer, The ABA Journal reports. The court announced that 85-year-old Ginsburg was to participate in the private conference in which justices review requests for certiorari. The justices return for oral arguments Tuesday.

Lawyer for Accused Police Officer Questions Nashville DA's Position on Discovery

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Feb 15, 2019
News Type: Legal News
The lawyer for Nashville police officer Andrew Delke, who was charged with first-degree murder after shooting Daniel Hambrick during a foot chase, filed a document on Thursday accusing District Attorney Glenn Funk of flip-flopping when considering the seal of evidence in the case, The Tennessean reports. Attorney David Raybin filed the reply to the state’s position regarding discovery, questioning Funk’s stance that evidence in the case be made public before the trial, highlighting his office’s position on the recent rape case against Vanderbilt football players where the state attorney general submitted a brief to seal the evidence until the case was adjudicated.

Court Extends Deadline for Comments on Proposed Changes to Rule 7

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Feb 15, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court has granted a motion to extended the deadline to submit comments on proposed amendments to Rule 7. The new deadline is March 15. In an order filed Jan. 17, the court set a deadline of Feb. 15 for filing written comments, and the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners filed a motion asking to extend the deadline. Comments should be e-mailed to appellatecourtclerk@tncourts.gov or mailed to: James M. Hivner, Clerk, Tennessee Appellate Courts, 100 Supreme Court Building, 401 7th Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37219-1407.

2 Memphis Legislators Under Scrutiny for Campaign Finance Reporting

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Feb 14, 2019
The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance has issued show-cause notices to Rep. G.A. Hardaway and Rep. Joe Towns, both Memphis Democrats, for shortcomings in their campaign finance reporting, The Daily Memphian reports. Hardaway, who filed his pre-general report late last year, had previously been told to submit a corrected report to show $7,000 in political action committee contributions by Jan. 18, but the report he filed contained no corrected information. The Registry voted to asses Towns $20,000 in civil penalties for failing to make two financial reports.

U.S. News to Launch 'Scholarly Impact' Method of Law School Ranking

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Feb 14, 2019
News Type: Legal News
U.S. News & World Report plans to launch a new law school ranking — one that will sort schools according to the “scholarly impact” of their faculties, Law.com reports. The new ranking will be separate from the closely watched “Best Law Schools” ranking. To gauge the scholarly impact of each law faculty, U.S. News said it has partnered with legal periodical publisher William S. Hein & Co. Inc. to track both the number of articles faculties produce as well as the number of citations in other scholarship that professors’ work generated over a five-year period. That, in turn, is intended to measure how productive and influential law faculties are.
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