The Chattanooga Bar Association (CBA) and the Chattanooga Bar Foundation present an evening to honor the Tennessee Supreme Court. Join the CBA YLD on Sept. 7 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. EDT at the Walden Club, Republic Centre 21st Floor, 633 Chestnut St. in Chattanooga. Please RSVP to lhood@chattanoogabar.org by Aug. 31.

The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals yesterday rejected Starbucks' challenge to a ruling requiring the coffee chain to rehire seven employees at a Memphis store who allegedly were fired for supporting a union, Reuters reports. The court said that by firing the workers, Starbucks likely discouraged other employees from exercising their rights under U.S. labor law. The ruling by a three-judge panel of the court is the first appellate decision involving a nationwide campaign that has seen workers at more than 300 Starbucks locations vote to unionize.

The TBA Adoption Law Section will hold its annual forum on Sept. 25 at the Tennessee Bankers Association's Barrett Training Center in Nashville. This year's program will run from 10 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. CDT and focus on adoption-related legislation considered during this year's General Assembly session. Make plans now to join colleagues.

The American Bar Association (ABA) has launched a task force aimed at bolstering public trust in elections. The effort will be headed by former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, now a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and former U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals judge J. Michael Luttig. Other task force members include former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, former NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund President Sherrilyn Ifill, conservative commentator Bill Kristol, and the deans of the Yale and Stanford law schools. The 31-member ABA Task Force for American Democracy will look at ways to depoliticize how elections are administered, educate the public on democracy, and try to foster election innovations that address the causes of politicization.

Defendant, Darrin Walker, was indicted by a Shelby County Grand Jury for two counts of first degree murder. After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty as charged and sentenced to concurrent life sentences. Defendant appeals, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence. Because the evidence was sufficient to support the convictions, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Jeffrey George Tulley, Defendant, pleaded guilty to three counts of sale of 0.5 grams or more of methamphetamine, three counts of delivery of 0.5 grams or more of methamphetamine, and four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony. At sentencing, the trial court imposed three concurrent sentences of eleven years on the drug counts and a consecutive four-year sentence for the firearm counts, as a Range I offender, in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, Defendant argues that the trial court imposed an excessive sentence. Following our review of the entire record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The Defendant, Donnie Marquis Tharpe, appeals from the Knox County Criminal Court’s probation revocation of the five-year, split-confinement sentence he received for his guiltypleaded convictions for aggravated assault and evading arrest. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion by denying his request for a continuance and by revoking his probation and ordering him to serve the remainder of his sentence in confinement. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

A Knox County jury convicted the Defendant, Jeremy Jerome Hardison, of first degree premeditated murder. The Defendant appeals, contending that (1) the trial court erred by denying the Defendant’s motion to recuse the trial judge; (2) the trial court erred by denying the Defendant’s motion to suppress evidence obtained from the execution of a search warrant on his residence; (3) the trial court unconstitutionally limited the Defendant’s ability to cross-examine a witness; (4) the trial court erred by admitting expert ballistics testimony at trial; and (5) the evidence was insufficient to prove the Defendant’s identity as the perpetrator. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

This is an appeal from a final judgment entered on April 5, 2023. Because the appellant did not file her notice of appeal with the clerk of the appellate court within thirty days after entry of the final order as required by Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a), we dismiss the appeal.

Former state Sen. Brenda Gilmore has joined with a group of Tennessee voters in a lawsuit over Tennessee's newly drawn congressional maps, the Tennessean reports. The group alleges that last year’s redistricting intentionally discriminates against Black voters and dilutes the voting power of communities of color. The lawsuit, filed today in federal court, focuses on efforts to divide Davidson County into three districts and split state Senate District 31 in Shelby County. Organizations supporting the suit include The League of Women Voters of Tennessee, Equity Alliance, African American Clergy Collective of Tennessee and Memphis A. Philip Randolph Institute.