State Rep. Cameron Sexton has introduced HB 31, or Boomer’s Law, which proposes to change the state law regarding the punishment for aggravated assault. The legislation is named after 20-year old Boomer Smith, who was killed last March following an argument with a friend. The assailant was charged with aggravated assault with serious bodily injury, a crime that has a penalty of three to six years. Boomer’s father, Richard Smith, has been working with a number of officials to redefine aggravated assault under Tennessee law and increase the sentence up to 10 years. The Herald Chronicle has the story.

Frank Slaughter Sr. died Feb. 12 at the age of 78. A prominent criminal defense attorney in Bristol, Slaughter was a graduate of Tennessee High School, Stetson University School of Business, and the University of Tennessee College of Law. He was appointed to the bench in the mid-1990s and served briefly as a criminal court judge. Slaughter was a member of the American Judicature Society, American Bar Association, American Trial Lawyers Association, and Bristol Tennessee Bar Association. The funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Akard Funeral Home Chapel. A private burial will be in Campground Cemetery with military rites conducted by the Bristol VFW Honor Guard. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be sent to the charity of your choice.

Franklin Juvenile Court Judge Sharon Guffee has invited dogs from the county’s shelter to comfort children once a week at the courthouse while the adults deal with cases involving foster care, abuse, and neglect. Kids are encouraged to pet the animals or sit with them during court sessions. While Judge Guffee has not researched the benefits of using therapy dogs in a courtroom, she has seen positive effects in juvenile detention centers and elsewhere. She told the Tennessean that in just a few short weeks of having dogs at the courthouse, she has seen more smiles.

A University of Alabama fan allegedly took the athletic rivalry with Auburn University too far by poisoning Auburn’s landmark oak trees, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. Harvey Updyke has been charged with offenses including criminal mischief and today requested to move the trial outside of the county where Auburn is based. University officials said the trees are all but dead and will be removed after the spring football game.

A record $4.2 billion was recovered through heath care fraud investigations in 2012 by the Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services. The Nashville Business Journal reports that the DOJ opened 1,131 new criminal and 885 new civil fraud investigations with a total of 826 defendants convicted for health care fraud-related crimes this year. About $4.1 billion was recovered in fiscal year 2011.

President Barack Obama’s executive order to improve sharing of cyberthreat information between the government and private companies was signed earlier today. The order calls for federal agencies to review existing cybersecurity regulations and determine whether they enjoy the legal authority to require improved defenses at the nation’s critical infrastructure companies. Although many provisions will take agencies months or years to implement, the National Law Journal reports that an accompanying presidential policy directive will require immediate attention from attorneys for companies in the critical infrastructure category.

With Gov. Bill Haslam telling reporters today that he will not decide whether the state should expand its Medicaid program before the end of the legislative session, Republican leaders in the General Assembly have put a hold on legislation to ban expansion, the Nashville City Paper reports. Twenty-six Republicans in the House and 16 in the Senate have signed on as co-sponsors of legislation to ban an expansion, but House Speaker Beth Harwell and Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey say they want to delay that effort to give the governor time to consider all options. Ramsey said fellow Republican Sen. Brian Kelsey has agreed to delay consideration of his bill. Harwell said her chamber will take a wait and see approach.

Most states do not yet have court e-filing and the few that do usually do not mandate a single vendor or e-filing system, instead leaving it to local courts to decide, Gavel to Gavel reports. Tennessee legislators are taking a different approach however. Bills introduced recently in the House and Senate would give the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) power to identify a single provider that must be used in all courts in the state. The bills, HB 418 by Vance Dennis, R-Savannah, and SB 1050 by Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, give the AOC until January 2014 to identify an e-filing provider and ensure that all courts in the state are utilizing the same system.

The Memphis City Council this week voted to rename three Civil War-themed parks in the city, despite a bill pending in the state legislature that supports the current designations. The Memphis Daily News reports that the council approved new names for the Nathan Bedford Forrest Park, Jefferson Davis Park and Confederate Park. Meanwhile, state Rep. Steve McDaniel, R-Parkers Crossroads, and state Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, are pushing the Tennessee Heritage Preservation Act, which would forbid changing the name of any park in the state named in honor of a military veteran or commemorating a war. Their legislation also would forbid removing statues, markers and other items from parks. The council's action provided temporary names for the parks. As early as next month, it could approve permanent names. 

Murfreesboro attorney Susan McGannon has been reappointed to a three-year term on the Board of Professional Responsibility by the Tennessee Supreme Court, the Daily News Journal reports. The board consists of nine lawyers and three non-lawyers from across the state who assist the court by issuing formal ethics opinions to help attorneys interpret the Rules of Professional Conduct. The board also administers the disciplinary system governing the activities of lawyers licensed to practice law in Tennessee.