This appeal arises from a termination of parental rights. The Tennessee Department of Children‘s Services (?DCS?) filed a petition in the Juvenile Court for Sevier County (?the Juvenile Court?) seeking to terminate the parental rights of James W. (?Father?) to his children Aniston and Chloe (?the Children?).1 After a trial, the Juvenile Court entered an order terminating Father‘s parental rights to the Children on the ground of wanton disregard and, also, finding that termination of Father‘s parental rights was in the Children‘s best interest.

The Petitioner, Dallas Jay Stewart, appeals from the denial of his petition seeking post- conviction relief from his convictions of rape of a child, aggravated sexual battery, and exhibition of harmful material to a minor. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the post-conviction court erred by finding that trial counsel was not ineffective by failing to object to testimony that the Petitioner took a polygraph test and by “opening the door” to evidence of an uncharged allegation that the Petitioner committed a sexual offense in Williamson County.

The Petitioner, Charles Wayne Dalton, filed a petition for writ of error coram nobis, seeking relief from his convictions of two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping and two counts of aggravated kidnapping. The Petitioner contended that he entered guilty pleas and forfeited his right to appeal without knowing that he would be required to be on the sexual offender registry for life. The trial court denied relief, and the Petitioner appeals. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

In a legal opinion released today, Attorney General Hebert Slatery wrote that any records obtained by a third party in conjunction with an employment search for a director of schools for a school board are public records and subject to inspection. The opinion was requested by Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville. Third parties include but are not limited to the Tennessee School Board Association and the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents. Slatery added that if the third party is one whose “origin and authority may be traced to state, city, or county legislative action,” then its meetings are subject to the Open Meetings Act. 

The Obama administration today commuted the prison sentences of 58 federal convicts, four of whom are from Tennessee. Three of the four Tennesseans were sentenced for crimes involving cocaine. The other was sentenced for a crime involving methamphetamine. The prisoners are scheduled to be released Sept. 2, The Knoxville News Sentinel reports. 

A sexual abuse victim has filed a suit against Cornerstone Nashville church and his abuser seeking $10 million in punitive damages, The Tennessean reports. In the suit filed in Davidson County Circuit Court two weeks ago, the victim said the Madison church appointed Brian L. Mitchell to be his mentor despite Mitchell's prior criminal history and allowed them to be alone together. The suit references incidents that span 2007 and 2008. Mitchell was convicted of aggravated sexual battery for a 2007 incident after the victim told a therapist about the incident. 

U.S. District Judge Todd Campbell today denied a request by attorneys for the state and Rutherford County to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to release a 15-year-old from solitary confinement in Rutherford County Juvenile Detention Center. However, Campbell declined to issue an injunction barring the use of solitary confinement for children in Tennessee. Attorneys for the boy and his mother said the boy was locked down for five days, a portion of which he was held in a cell 23 hours a day with a window covered by a board. Jail officials dispute that claim, The Tennessean reports. Campbell ordered the release of the boy in April on the same day as the lawsuit was filed.

“Congress did not do enough to help the more than 47 million Americans living in poverty,” according to the Shriver Center’s Annual Poverty Scorecard released this week. The scorecard identifies important poverty-related legislation considered by Congress in the past year and provides a comprehensive look at how each representative voted. Of Tennessee’s 11 lawmakers, nine received a grade of ‘F’. Representatives Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, and Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, received an ‘A’ for their efforts to fight poverty. 

With three Tennessee Supreme Court Justices and seven intermediate appellate judges facing retention elections, along with 15 trial judges and a number of local judges on the ballot in August, the TBA is renewing its effort to assure fair and impartial judicial elections by asking judges to subscribe to the Tennessee Fair Judicial Campaign Code of Conduct. In the 2014 election cycle, where all judges and judicial officers were on the ballot, more than 116 judges subscribed to the code. Letters to all known judges and judicial candidates on the ballot are being issued this week. Visit the TBA's 2016 Tennessee Judicial Election Information Center for more information.