A federal appeals court ordered U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell to consider "a more appropriate damages award" for a former trooper with the Knoxville branch of Tennessee Highway Patrol, who was fired after a military liaison falsely labeled him a budding terrorist. De'Ossie Dingus, a Sunni Muslim, was denied his attorney’s request for $300,000 in damages; Campbell denied that request primarily because Dingus did not seek counseling. She symbolically awarded him $1. Dingus had won a separate hearing that awarded him back pay and lost wages. Read more from the Knoxville News Sentinel. 

The Lawyers’ Association for Women’s annual meeting and awards banquet will be held at 6 p.m. on April 20 at The Music City Center. The event will include the election of the board of directors and officers. Nominations include Yanika C. Smith-Bartley as president and Liz Sitgreaves as president-elect. RSVP by April 15. 

The TBA’s annual Entertainment & Sports Forum is planned for May 19, 12:30 – 4:45 p.m., at Belmont University College of Law, Baskin Center, 1900 Belmont Blvd. in Nashville. This year’s forum, titled “Nashville: The Intersection of Television, Fashion and Music,” is approved for four CLE credits. Topics include an inside perspective on the intellectual property issues for the TV show "Nashville,” and a discussion of the ethical challenges when using social media and online platforms to market your practice. Register by May 15 to avoid a late fee. 

The Associated Press reports a bill that would allow counselors to turn away patients based on their personal beliefs has passed in the state House. The Senate already approved the measure (SB1556 / HB1840), but must approve an amendment adopted by the House before the bill can head to Gov. Bill Haslam. The American Counseling Association has condemned the measure.

The Associated Press reports a bill that would allow counselors to turn away patients based on their personal beliefs has passed in the state House. The Senate already approved the measure (SB 1556 / HB 1840), but must approve an amendment adopted by the House before the bill can head to Gov. Bill Haslam. The American Counseling Association has condemned the measure.

An opinion released today from Attorney General Hebert Slatery said all fantasy sports contests amount to “illegal gambling” in Tennessee. “The participants do not control how selected athletes perform in actuality on a given day …Thus, absent legislation specifically exempting fantasy sports contests from the definition of 'gambling,' these contests constitute illegal gambling under Tennessee law,” Slatery writes. The Tennessean reports the opinion was requested by House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley.

A portrait unveiling ceremony for the Hon. Bernice Bouie Donald, judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, is planned for April 22 at 2 p.m., in the Clifford Davis-Odell Horton Federal Building, 167 N. Main St., in Memphis. A reception will follow the event, according to the Memphis Bar Association. RSVP by Friday via e-mail or by calling 901-495-1239.

Employees from Pathways Community Corrections will work in the new Rutherford County probation services department while the company is named as a codefendant in a class-action lawsuit over the handling of misdemeanor probationers. Mayor Earnest Burgess said all of the employees hired for the department were carefully screened, the Murfreesboro Post reports. The suit against nine PCC employees claims the company’s goal was to maximize profits by collecting debts and additional fees "through repeated continuous threats to arrest, revoke and imprison." The lawsuit also contends many of those forced to pay the fees were indigent or disabled.

U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp today said he will rule as soon as possible in a case challenging the way the state tabulated votes for a 2014 constitutional amendment, which clarified the state does not protect abortion. Deputy Attorney General Janet Kleinfelter, arguing for the state, said there is no proof that voters participated in a voting scheme that asked voters to “double your vote” by skipping the governor’s race and approving Amendment 1. Amendments must be passed by “a majority of all the citizens of the state voting for governor, voting in their favor.” Nashville attorney Bill Harbison, who is representing the plaintiffs, said the state is incorrectly interpreting the way the amendment votes should be counted. Read more from The Associated Press. 

A team of University of Tennessee College of Law students won second place and second-best brief in the national Dean Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition, hosted at Brooklyn Law School last week. The competition provides law students from across the nation the opportunity to write and argue an appellate brief that addresses evidentiary issues in a contemporary context.