On Wednesday, Chancellor I’Ashea Myles transferred Christa Pike’s legal challenge to Tennessee’s revised lethal injection protocol from Davidson County Chancery Court to the Tennessee Supreme Court, according to the Nashville Banner newsletter. Pike, the only woman currently on death row in the state, argues that the protocol is unconstitutional because it violates her “unique medical conditions.” The state sought to dismiss the case, but Myles ordered it transferred to the high court due to a recent amended rule requiring “collateral litigation” related to the “method or timing” of an execution to be filed with the court. That amendment followed a 2025 ruling in which the high court overturned a Davidson County Chancery Court ruling related to Byron Black’s execution. Pike is on death row for a murder she committed in 1996 when she was 18. Her execution is scheduled for Sept. 30.

Former Shelby County General Sessions Criminal Court Judge Gerald Skahan died May 5 at age 61. Skahan, who worked as both a private defense attorney and public defender before taking the bench, was first elected in 2014 and became the first judge to preside over the county’s newly established mental health court. He served until 2022, when Judge Sheila Renfroe was elected to the seat. Skahan earned his law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in 1991. After leaving the bench, he served as special assistant for post-conviction litigation in the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office. A memorial service will be held at a later date. Read more in the Daily Memphian. 

Tennessee lawyers will gather in June for the 2026 TBA Annual Convention. This year's CLE lineup, which will offer 8.5 hours of credit, will include a joint program produced by the TBA and the Tennessee Alliance for Black Lawyers. The session — which will honor Black entrepreneur Marie Van Brittan Brown, the inventor of the first home security system — will examine the balance between governmental interests in public safety and individuals’ constitutional rights to privacy. The discussion will address legal considerations under the Fourth Amendment, including protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as the potential implications of surveillance technologies on First Amendment rights, particularly freedom of speech. The session will take place June 11 from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. EDT at the Crowne Plaza in downtown Knoxville. Learn more about the convention and register here.

If you plan to attend the 2026 TBA Convention but have not yet booked your hotel, time is running out! The TBA hotel room block at the Crowne Plaza Knoxville will tomorrow, May 8, at 5 p.m. EDT. Book now to take advantage of our special discounted rate. Can't make it to the full convention? Join colleagues on June 11 for TBA's first-ever Tech Showcase. Day passes for Thursday are now available online.

Committees in both the state House and Senate considered several bills today to advance the special session, called by Gov. Bill Lee to redraw the state’s congressional map. Committees in both chambers passed HB7003/SB7004, allowing the legislature to change congressional districts outside of the regular 10-year cycle, and HB7005/SB7005, which provides funding for the special session. Republican leaders released a proposed map this morning that would split the 9th Congressional District, which covers Shelby County, into three parts. One section would be added to the 5th District, one would be added to the 8th District. The remaining section would become the new 9th District. The Daily Memphian has more on the day’s proceedings and a breakdown of the changes. The current 9th District has the state’s highest concentration of Black voters and is represented by the state’s sole Democratic member of Congress.

The May/June issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal is now online and arriving in mailboxes soon. This is the annual access to justice-focused issue, and who better to grace the cover but retiring Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Holly Kirby? Justice Kirby has been a staunch advocate for ATJ-related issues across the state, and her longtime friend Linda Warren Seely captures her commitment to this important work and her sense of fairness in this profile. Additionally, Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services Executive Director Laura Brown shares an update on Legal Services Corporation funding. TBA President Heidi Barcus focuses her final president's column on compassion in the legal profession, John Day looks at wrongful death lawsuit outcomes in "Day on Torts" and Ward Phillips and Brandon Morrow unpack remote work and employment disputes. Read about about Mock Trial winners, say farewell to a columnist and much more. Enjoy!

CLAY, Circuit Judge. Plaintiffs Kenneth M. Miller and House of Glunz, Inc. challenge the constitutionality of Ohio liquor laws preventing out-of-state wine retailers from shipping wine directly to Ohio consumers, Ohio Rev. Code §§ 4301.01(A)(2), 4301.58(C), 4303.12, 4303.25, 4303.236(B)(1), 4303.27 (the “Direct Ship Restriction”), and prohibiting individuals from transporting more than six bottles of wine into Ohio during any 30-day period, id. § 4301.20(L) (the “Transportation Restriction”). On appeal, Plaintiffs challenge the district court’s holding that the Restrictions are constitutional. For the reasons set forth below, we REVERSE the district court and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. BACKGROUND Plaintiff Kenneth Miller is an Ohio resident who wants to be able to order wine directly from out-of-state retailers and to personally transport wine he buys outside of Ohio back into the state. Plaintiff House of Glunz is an Illinois retailer that wants to be able to ship wine directly to Ohio consumers. Ohio law, however, prohibits out-of-state retailers from shipping wine directly to Ohio consumers (the “Direct Ship Restriction”) and prohibits Ohio residents from personally transporting more than six bottles of wine into the state during any thirty-day period (the “Transportation Restriction”). Miller and House of Glunz thus filed suit alleging that the Direct Ship and Transportation Restrictions impermissibly discriminate against out-of-state businesses in violation of the Commerce Clause. The procedural and factual background relevant to this appeal is set forth below.

PER CURIAM. After pleading guilty to a child-pornography offense and completing his custodial term, Daniel Dale Barton, Sr.’s term of supervision had an inauspicious start. He committed a new law violation, traveled outside the Northern District of Ohio without permission, and was caught possessing an internet-connected tablet that he used to view adult pornography. At a hearing on these violations, the district court offered Barton an ultimatum. Either he could immediately accept a within-Guidelines six-month term of imprisonment, or continue on supervision—with a catch: if Barton committed a future violation, the district court would impose a statutory-maximum two-year term of imprisonment. Barton chose to remain on supervision, but shortly thereafter was caught possessing another internet-connected tablet. At the subsequent violation hearing, the district court made good on its promise to impose the statutory maximum. We hold that when a district court predetermines a supervisee’s revocation term of imprisonment at an earlier violation hearing, as the district court did here, the end result is a term of imprisonment that is both procedurally and substantively unreasonable. Accordingly, we VACATE the judgment of the district court and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

A Knox County jury convicted the Defendant, Johnny Robert McBee, of first degree premeditated murder and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to an effective term of life imprisonment. On appeal, the Defendant raises the following issues: (1) whether the evidence is legally sufficient to support his convictions; and (2) whether the trial court erred in denying his oral motion to bifurcate the unlawful possession charge from the first degree murder charge. Upon our review, we respectfully affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The Petitioner, Joshua Linebarger, appeals the summary dismissal of his petition for post- conviction relief as untimely. After pleading guilty in the Knox County Criminal Court to theft, reckless burning, and assault and receiving an effective ten-year sentence, the Petitioner filed a post-conviction petition outside the one-year statute of limitations. The post-conviction court dismissed the petition, concluding that it was untimely on its face and that principles of due process did not toll the limitations period. Upon our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.