Miller Bruce Sullivan died Jan. 15 at age 25. A Knoxville native, he graduated from the University of Tennessee Knoxville with a degree in political science and religious studies, going on to law school at Washington and Lee University in Virginia. In October, he celebrated passing the Tennessee Bar Exam and joined the Cole Law Group in Brentwood. Visitation will be from 1-3 p.m. EST on Jan. 25, at Fountain City Presbyterian Church, 500 Hotel Rd., Knoxville 37918, followed by a memorial service at 3 p.m. The memorial service will be livestreamed on the church's Facebook page. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to either UT UKirk Campus Ministry or The National Epilepsy Foundation.

Save the date for TBA's 29th Annual Labor & Employment Forum set for May 2 at the Tennessee Bankers Association in Nashville. Speakers will include Heather Collins, John Edwin Gerth, Greg Grisham and Mark Travis. Visit the TBA website for more information and to register.

The ABA Litigation Section's national news magazine seeks excellent writers interested in joining its editorial board as contributing editors. Contributing editors write four articles and attend two section leadership meetings per year. "Litigation News" reaches an audience of nearly 30,000 members and is a great opportunity to connect with attorneys across the country. For more information or to express interest email LitNewsWriteOn@gmail.com by Jan. 31.

The TBA will be closed Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The office will reopen Tuesday at 8 a.m. CST. Visit the TBA.org website for information on CLE or other TBA programs and for staff contact information.

President Joe Biden has asserted that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which prohibits discrimination based on sex, is part of the Constitution, arguing it has met the criteria to be added as the 28th Amendment, The Hill reports. "The American Bar Association (ABA) has recognized that the ERA has cleared all necessary hurdles to be formally added to the Constitution as the 28th Amendment. I agree with the ABA and with leading legal constitutional scholars that the Equal Rights Amendment has become part of our Constitution,” Biden said. He also affirmed that the 28th Amendment guarantees all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of sex. Biden said the ERA “is the law of the land” because it was passed by a two-thirds majority in Congress and ratified by three-quarters of the states. However, he has not directed the archivist to formally add the amendment to the Constitution, which could invite legal challenges, the news outlet reports.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has permanently disbarred Johnson County lawyer and former general sessions judge Perry Lee Stout from the practice of law. Stout was temporarily suspended on Feb. 28, 2024, after pleading guilty to the commission of two felonies: conspiracy to possess with intent to sell not less than ten or more than 70 pounds of marijuana and money laundering. He was sentenced to an effective eight-year sentence in May 2024. In imposing disbarment, the court found that Stout knowingly violated Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct 8.4 (a), (b), (c) and (d) when he purchased illegal drugs and participated in illegal drug trafficking.

BLOOMEKATZ, Circuit Judge. In 2005, Congress amended Section 219 of the Federal Power Act (FPA), directing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to make the country’s electric grid more efficient, reliable, and affordable for consumers. Among other measures, Congress mandated that FERC “provide for incentives to each . . . electric utility that joins” a regional transmission organization (RTO). 16 U.S.C. § 824s(c). RTOs operate regional electricity grids and facilitate competition, efficiency, and reliability. They also lower consumer prices. Following Congress’s instruction, FERC promulgated a rule allowing utilities to charge higher wholesale electricity rates as an incentive for joining an RTO. See Promoting Transmission Investment Through Pricing Reform, 116 FERC ¶ 61,057 (2006). We call that surcharge the “RTO adder.” Consistent with Congress’s goal of encouraging RTO participation, FERC ultimately determined that a utility can qualify for the higher rate only if it voluntarily joins an RTO. FERC thus excludes utilities that are required to join an RTO by state law because the extra payment cannot “incentivize” membership. We affirm FERC’s denial of Dayton Power’s application for an RTO adder in the Dayton Power proceeding and its revocation of AEP’s RTO adder in the OCC proceeding. We reverse FERC’s order in the OCC proceeding declining to revoke the RTO adder from Duke’s and FirstEnergy’s adder-inclusive settlement rates and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

The Petitioner, Morris Jason Pepper, was convicted of first degree premeditated murder in 2000 and was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2022, the Petitioner, with the assistance of counsel, filed a motion to reopen his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that new scientific evidence established his actual innocence, referencing issues of inconsistent testimony, chain of custody, and the existence of alibi witnesses. He simultaneously filed a petition requesting touch DNA analysis of the several shotgun shells found at the murder scene and in the front yard of his home for the possible presence of either canine DNA or his codefendant’s DNA, contending that analysis was pertinent to answer the question of who or what might have touched the shells. A hearing was held on the Petitioner’s motion to reopen and his DNA petition, following which the post-conviction court denied relief in a single order. The Petitioner now appeals that decision, and he also requests relief via the doctrine of plain error due to the possible existence of a recording of his police interview and due to the destruction of evidence. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

A Decatur County jury convicted Jason David Baine, Defendant, of two counts of assault and one count of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. He received an effective sentence of two years of incarceration to be served at a rate of at least thirty percent. On appeal, Defendant contends the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

In this action to terminate parental rights, Mother appeals the trial court’s findings by clear and convincing evidence that she abandoned her child and that the termination of her parental rights was in the child’s best interest. The evidence does not preponderate against the trial court’s determination. Therefore, we affirm the trial court’s decision.