The U.S. Supreme Court today upheld decades-old federal standards that give preferences to Native Americans and tribal members in the adoption or foster care placement of Native American children, rejecting a challenge that claimed that parts of the law were racially biased against non-Native Americans. Reuters reports that the 7-2 ruling threw out a lower court's decision that had struck down — as a violation of the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law — a requirement that "other Indian families" receive preference in adoption and foster care after members of a child's extended family or tribe members.

The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law Alumni Chapter will honor five Memphis-area lawyers at its annual Pillars of Excellence event set for Aug. 26 at the Fed Ex Forum. Those receiving awards are: Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen; Robert L. Dinkelspiel, founding member of Dinkelspiel Rasmussen & Mink; Mike McLaren, shareholder at Black McLaren Jones Ryland & Griffee; David Wade, shareholder and director at Martin Tate Morrow & Marston; and Ruby R. Wharton, founder and partner with The Wharton Law Firm. U.S. District Court Judge Phipps McCalla with the Western District of Tennessee will receive the 2023 Friend of the Law School award. The event will start with a reception at 6 p.m. CDT followed by dinner, awards and an after party. Proceeds from the evening will support the law school and student scholarships.

For the week of June 5, 2023 - June 9, 2023

After flooding washed away a bridge and part of a driveway which a homeowner used to access his house, he made repairs. The repaired route was also used on rare occasions by an easement holder who had a right to access a family cemetery. The homeowner brought suit against the easement holder, seeking equitable reimbursement for the costs of repairs. The trial court ruled against the homeowner, concluding the equities of this case did not warrant requiring the easement holder to contribute to the costs of repair. The homeowner appealed. We conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion; accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s ruling.

A qui tam relator brought a Tennessee False Claims Act suit on behalf of himself and the state of Tennessee against a manufacturer of guardrail end terminals. The manufacturer moved to dismiss, and the trial court granted the motion on a wide variety of bases. The qui tam relator appeals. We conclude that a number of the rationales relied upon by the trial court were in error; nevertheless, the trial court properly dismissed the action for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted under the Tennessee False Claims Act.

This is an appeal from a final order entered on March 9, 2023. The notice of appeal was not filed with the appellate court clerk until April 12, 2023, more than 30 days from the date of entry of the order from which she is seeking to appeal. Because the notice of appeal was not timely filed, we have no jurisdiction to consider this appeal.

The defendant, Cody Lynn Wyrick, alias, appeals his Knox County Criminal Court jury convictions of rape of a child, rape and aggravated sexual battery, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. Discerning no error, we affirm.

The petitioner, Jonathan Michael Atha, appeals the denial of his motion for a hearing on his petition for relief pursuant to the Post-Conviction DNA Analysis Act of 2001. Discerning no error, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief.

A Haywood County jury convicted the defendant, Tondre Durpress Ragland, of attempted second-degree murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony and aggravated assault, for which he received an effective sentence of 20 years in confinement. On appeal, the defendant contends the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his conviction for aggravated assault. The defendant also argues the trial court erred in imposing partial consecutive sentences. Following our review, we affirm the defendant’s convictions. However, we reverse the imposition of consecutive sentences and remand to the trial court for a new sentencing hearing for consideration of the consecutive sentencing factors outlined in State v. Wilkerson, 905 S.W.2d 933 (Tenn. 1995).

The defendant appeals from the Shelby County Criminal Court’s denial of his motion seeking resentencing pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-17-432(h). Upon our review of the applicable law and the briefs of the parties, we conclude the defendant does not have an appeal as of right and the instant appeal should be dismissed.