The Davidson County District Attorney’s office has announced the hiring of Kevin Kennedy and Eli Cheely as new assistant district attorneys (ADAs). Kennedy, a 2021 graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School, will focus on domestic violence cases while Cheely, a graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law, will handle cases in general sessions court. The two were sworn in this week by 20th Judicial District Judge Steve Dozier, according to the Nashville Post.

A bipartisan group of legal experts – including a federal appeals court judge and a former U.S. solicitor general – are throwing their support behind 18-year term limits for U.S. Supreme Court justices, Reuters reports. The 11-member group includes 7th Circuit Judge Diane Wood, a onetime Supreme Court contender herself, along with Harvard Law Professor Charles Fried, who served as U.S. solicitor general under former President Ronald Reagan. Akhil Amar, a constitutional law professor at Yale Law School, also signed on. In a report released by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the group argues that Congress should end life tenure among the justices through statute to reduce partisanship and improve the judiciary’s reputation.

The U.S. House of Representatives elected Rep. Mike Johnson, a Republican of Louisiana, as its new speaker today after multiple attempts over the past several weeks, the New York Times reports. Among the representatives vying for the top job earlier this week were Reps. Chuck Fleischmann and Mark Green. Fleischmann, who represents Tennessee’s Third Congressional District, dropped out after the first round of voting while Green, who represents the Seventh District, dropped out after the second. WKRN has that story.

The Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals has reversed a Shelby County Criminal Court judge's ruling that freed a man by shortening his almost 163-year sentence to 25 years. The ruling upholds the initial sentence imposed on Courtney Anderson, who was convicted of felony theft, felony forgery and misdemeanor possession of a handgun in a public space. Last December, Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan shortened Anderson's sentence to the 25 years he had already served. The state attorney general challenged the decision, arguing that Skahan did not have jurisdiction to re-open post-conviction proceedings in the case. The appeals court agreed. Read the decision or reporting about it by the Commercial Appeal.

Federal prosecutors pursuing criminal charges against those involved in the death of Tyre Nichols have asked a judge to omit evidence related to Nichols’ character in public filings about the case. The Commercial Appeal reports that prosecutors are arguing such evidence should not be released since it would be inadmissible in court given that Nichols is not alive to defend himself. The move comes after the lawyer for one suspect sought access to Nichols’ cellphone, alleging he had a hallucinogenic substance, along with stolen debit cards, credit cards and photo IDs in his car. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is asking for a hearing on the issue so that “any attempts to improperly and unfairly malign Nichols’ character” be stopped.

This case involves an election contest filed by the plaintiff based on the defendant’s residency eligibility for the office of Lenoir City Municipal Court Judge. Following a hearing, the trial court determined that the defendant had complied with article VI, section 4 of the Tennessee Constitution because the clause required, inter alia, that he be a resident within the judicial district, not necessarily within the city limits, to preside over the municipal court, which has concurrent jurisdiction with a general sessions court. The plaintiff has appealed. Upon review, we determine that the language of article VI, section 4 of the Tennessee Constitution requiring a judge elected to an inferior court to have been a resident of the “district or circuit” to which he or she is assigned means, under these circumstances, that the Lenoir City Municipal Judge must have been a resident of Loudon County for at least one year prior to the judge’s election because the Lenoir City Municipal Court has concurrent jurisdiction with the Loudon County General Sessions Court. Accordingly, inasmuch as the defendant had been a resident of Loudon County for at least one year prior to the election, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal of the plaintiff’s election contest. However, we modify the trial court’s judgment to state that the defendant complied with the residency requirement at issue because he had been a resident of Loudon County for at least one year rather than because he had been a resident of the Ninth Judicial District for the prescribed time period.

A new report from Indiana University’s Center for Postsecondary Research shows that first-generation college students who go on to law school face additional challenges as compared to peers whose parents graduated from college. The Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE) found that on average these students spend more time studying, earn slightly lower grades and graduate with higher debt loads. The report encourages law schools to recognize these challenges and provide additional flexibility and support for these students. Reuters reports on the findings.

Because the circuit court orders from which the appellant has sought to appeal do not constitute a final appealable judgment, this Court lacks jurisdiction to consider this appeal.

This is an appeal from a divorce in the Chancery Court for Hamilton County (the “trial court”). Donna Booker (“Wife”) and Mike Booker (“Husband”) married for the first time in 1993 and divorced in 1998. They remarried shortly thereafter in February of 1999. The day of their second wedding, Husband and Wife executed a prenuptial agreement addressing Husband’s interest in his family’s steel erection business. Wife filed the current divorce action in the trial court in February of 2020, and a trial was held May 3 and 4, 2022, and July 6, 2022. The trial court ordered the parties divorced, divided the marital estate, and awarded Wife alimony in futuro. Finding that the prenuptial agreement was valid, the trial court determined that Husband’s interest in his family business was separate property. Wife appeals. Following thorough review, we affirm in part, reverse in part, vacate in part, and remand the case for further proceedings.

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