Death row inmate Oscar Smith, who is scheduled to be executed on May 22 after a three-year hiatus in executions, has declined to choose the method of his execution. The Nashville Banner reports that Federal Public Defender Kelley Henry has confirmed that by default, Smith will die by lethal injection rather than electrocution. Smith previously was scheduled to be executed on April 21, 2022, but that was called off a little more than an hour beforehand when problems with the execution procedures were revealed. The state has now shifted from a three-drug cocktail to a one-drug protocol using barbiturate pentobarbital. Read more in a newsletter from the paper.

The Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled unanimously on Monday that the legislature’s attempt to take over the Metro Nashville Airport Authority was unconstitutional because it singled out Nashville and thus violated the state constitution’s Home Rule Amendment. The decision upholds that portion of a ruling from an October 2023 special three-judge panel. According to The Tennessean, however, the appeals court reversed the lower court's ruling that five sections of the law violated equal protection guarantees and remanded the case back the special court “for further proceedings consistent” with the opinion. In 2023, the state legislature passed a law to vacate the mayor-appointed airport board and create a new system by which the governor and Republican legislative leaders would appoint a majority of board members. Metro Nashville sued to block the move at the time the bill was signed into law. The state had argued that the law did not single out Nashville and that because the airport authority is a separate legal entity, Metro Nashville did not have standing to sue.

The Chattanooga Bar Association will hold its annual Law Day event on May 14 at the Marriott from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT. The event will feature presentation of the Liberty Bell Award and a keynote address by former TBA President Bill Haltom, who will talk about his book "The Other Fellow May Be Right: The Civility of Howard Baker." The book looks at the life and career of Tennessee’s former U.S. senator and how he used strategic civility to bring people together. According to Haltom, his example remains a role model of what can be accomplished, even in the most contentious arenas of American life, through civility and collegiality. RSVP by to 423-602-9430 or lhood@chattanoogabar.org before May 12, or purchase tickets online.

TBA’s Entertainment & Sports Law Section will host its annual forum next Wednesday at Belmont College of Law in Nashville. The event will feature discussions on the latest legal issues in the entertainment and sports industries. Registration opens at 11:15 a.m. with programming running from noon to 4:45 p.m. A networking reception will follow from 4:45-6:30 p.m. CDT. Speakers will include Nashville lawyers Steven Gaches, Jordan Keller with Keller Turner Andrews & Ghanem, Bill Ramsey with Neal & Harwell, Tim Warnock with Loeb & Loeb, and Daniel Werly with the Tennessee Titans. Register online.

The TBA Creditors Practice Section social event originally planned for April 30 has been postponed. Once a new date has been set, the section will be notified and encouraged to RSVP. We look forward to seeing you soon!

SUTTON, Chief Judge. Derrick Mitchell pleaded guilty to drug-trafficking and money- laundering charges after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors. Through the agreement, Mitchell waived his right to appeal unless the district court imposed an above-Guidelines sentence. The court imposed a below-Guidelines sentence. Mitchell seeks to appeal anyway. Because he may not do so under his voluntarily accepted plea agreement, we dismiss the appeal.

JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge. Plaintiff-Appellants Lathfield Investments, LLC; Lathfield Holdings, LLC; and Lathfield Partners, LLC (collectively, “Lathfield”) own three commercial buildings (the “Property”), located in the City of Lathrup Village, Michigan, that are rented to various commercial tenants. Defendant-Appellees’—City of Lathrup Village (the “Village”) and the Village’s Downtown Development Authority (the “DDA”) (collectively, the “City”)—Code of Ordinances (the “City Code”) requires that all landlords apply for a landlord rental license before renting any units to commercial tenants. The City Code also requires all landlords renting to commercial tenants to list each tenant’s name and principal business. In July 2020, Lathfield sought to comply with the City Code and applied for a landlord rental license. In its application, Lathfield did not list the names and the principal businesses of its tenants, as required under Chapter 18, Article II, § 18-33(a) of the City Code. For this reason, the City denied Lathfield’s application for a landlord rental license. Because Lathfield did not have a landlord rental license, the City also denied the Lathfield tenants’ general business license applications. Lathfield sued, among other parties, the Village and the DDA, a local governmental body that assists in the Village’s commercial development. Broadly, Lathfield argued that the City engaged in a concerted effort to unlawfully compel it to apply for unnecessary licenses and to make unnecessary improvements to the Property. Lathfield brought eleven claims, nine of which are against the City, seeking monetary damages and various forms of relief that would allow it to continue leasing space at the Property despite its failure to obtain a landlord rental license. We affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the City with respect to all nine claims whose dismissal Lathfield now appeals.

This negligence action arose when Courtney L. Wherry (“Ms. Wherry”), a member of the South Fulton High School sideline cheerleading team, fell and injured her neck while performing a “shoulder sit” stunt in the endzone of a football field prior to a high school football game. Ms. Wherry and her parents, Jason T. Wherry and Jaime L. Tidwell, (collectively, “the Wherrys”) brought suit against the Obion County Board of Education and Obion County School District (collectively, “the School District”)1 under the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act to recover damages for the injuries sustained by Ms. Wherry. The Wherrys sought recovery based upon two negligence theories: (1) that the school district’s selection and hiring of the South Fulton High School cheerleading coach Nichole Harrell (“Ms. Harrell”) was negligent, and (2) that the negligent acts and omissions of Ms. Harrell on the night of the accident related to the football field conditions were the cause in fact and proximate cause of Ms. Wherry’s injuries. Following a bench trial, the trial court found in favor of the School District on both negligence theories. The Wherrys appeal. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

In this dispute, the trial court found that certain subsections of 2023 Tennessee Public Acts, chapter 488, violated the home rule amendment and the equal protection guarantee found in the Tennessee Constitution. The defendants, who are officials of the State of Tennessee, have appealed the trial court’s ruling. Following our thorough review, we affirm the trial court’s determination that section two of the act is unconstitutional. However, we reverse the trial court’s determination that sections two, six, seven, eight, and nine of the Act violate the equal protection guarantee found in the Tennessee Constitution. We therefore also reverse the trial court’s elision of sections six, seven, eight, and nine from the statute.

April 21, 2025 - April 25, 2025.