Following the death of his minor child, the appellant filed suit against the State of Tennessee in the Tennessee Claims Commission (the “Claims Commission”) asserting claims for wrongful death and for violation of his rights as a crime victim. The Claims Commission granted partial summary judgment and partial judgment on the pleadings in favor of the State. The appellant appeals the judgment of the Claims Commission. Having determined that the appellant’s brief is not compliant with the relevant rules of briefing in this Court, we conclude that his issues purportedly raised on appeal are waived. The appeal is dismissed.

Defendant, Timothy Dewayne Pinion, was convicted after a jury trial of vehicular homicide by recklessness, reckless endangerment, two counts of driving under the influence (DUI), driving with a revoked license, failure to drive on the right side of the roadway, and violation of the financial responsibility law. For these convictions, Defendant was sentenced to an effective fourteen years, eleven months, and twenty-nine days in confinement. On appeal, Defendant argues that his dual convictions for vehicular homicide by recklessness and reckless endangerment violate principles of double jeopardy. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm.

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A U.S. district judge ruled that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s consideration of race or gender when awarding federal highway and transit project funding to disadvantaged small businesses is unconstitutional. According to Reuters, the judge on Monday ruled that a federal program that was enacted in 1983, which treats businesses owned by racial minorities and women as presumptively disadvantaged and eligible for funding, violated the U.S. Constitution's equal protection guarantees. The plaintiffs argued the program discriminated against other racial groups, such as white people, and violated the Fifth Amendment. The judge cited a recent Supreme Court ruling that effectively prohibited affirmative action policies long used in college admissions to raise the number of Black, Hispanic and other underrepresented minority students on American campuses.

A Nashville judge’s ruling last week that a man serving a life sentence is eligible for credits that could reduce his prison time by up to 36 years has raised questions about whether others in prison have sentences that should have ended. According to The Tennessean, the decision by Chancellor Russell Perkins means that anyone sentenced to life in prison before 1995 or sentenced to life as a juvenile should have sentence reduction credits, or “good time,” applied to their sentences’ expiration dates, says David Esquivel, an attorney representing the plaintiff in the case. A 1995 sentencing law required people serving life sentences to serve at least 51 years behind bars. However, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that this law was unconstitutional as applied to minors. As a result, juveniles sentenced after 1995 have had their sentences recalculated under a less harsh law. Adults sentenced after 1995 are not affected by this ruling. It remains unclear how the Tennessee Department of Correction will respond to this court decision and its potential implications.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an antitrust lawsuit against Visa, one of the world's largest payment networks, of violating antitrust law by suppressing competition by threatening merchants with high fees and paying off potential rivals, according to Reuters. The DOJ seeks a court order barring these practices to restore competition for processing debit transactions. Julie Rottenberg, Visa's general counsel, says competition is thriving in the debit market. According to the report, prosecutors are seeking to block Visa from imposing pricing structures that discourage competition, and paying rivals not to compete, which prosecutors say will restore competition for services to process debit payments both online and at physical stores.

The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury is investigating an incident at the Knox County Property Assessor’s Office where a newly purchased laptop was reported stolen after the office was ransacked. According to Knox News, the missing laptop may have contained sensitive taxpayer information. The county’s IT department confirmed that the laptop was purchased outside of normal procedures and was not connected to the county’s internal network, which is uncommon practice and forbidden for most county offices. The incident has raised questions about the security and oversight of constitutional offices in Knox County. According to the report, whether the laptop factors into the state investigation remains to be determined, but if it contains taxpayers’ personal information, Knox County Property Assessor Phil Ballard implies it will likely come under scrutiny.

In a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court, Lonesome Ten Miles LLC, an entity affiliated with Good Time Design Hospitality Group, challenged what it called “extortionate” Metro Nashville permitting policies. The developers alleged that Metro required the developer to replace a waterline along Division Street “at enormous expense” as a condition of its permits, according to the Nashville Banner. In the complaint, the plaintiff asked the court to award damages to cover the expense of the replaced waterline and alleged that it bore all the costs. Earlier this year, the Tennessee legislature passed a law giving developers the option of appealing offsite improvement conditions imposed by local utilities to the Tennessee Board of Utility Regulation. In recent years, Metro has paid out multiple settlements to developers who successfully sued over a city policy, according to the report.

Tennessee educators plan to meet with lawmakers this week to propose ideas for potential legislation, including a bill to allow the state to place students who make credible school threats in holding cells in juvenile detention facilities for up to three days. According to WKRN News, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security has investigated more than 320 school threats so far this year that were reported to their department. J.C. Bowman, executive director and CEO of Professional Educators of Tennessee, told the news outlet that school threats are negatively impacting students, staff and communities. “If it is a credible threat, we need to take action,” Bowman said.

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