News
March 21, 2017
All five justices with the Tennessee Supreme Court kicked off #HELP4TNDAY events today in Memphis, Jackson, Nashville, Chattanooga and Knoxville.
The awareness campaign asks Tennesseans to visit www.help4tn.org to find a legal clinic, expungement clinic or educational event near them to…
March 16, 2017
The Tennessee Supreme Court has held that Tennessee’s Parental Relocation Statute, which applies to parents with a court-ordered parenting plan, was intended to make cases in which one parent wants to relocate with the child relatively clear cut. In a case involving divorced parents in middle…
March 8, 2017
The Tennessee Supreme Court has held that a Memphis food-service employee may not file a lawsuit against her employer for distributing tips in a way that violates Tennessee’s Tip Statute, because the law does not allow a private party to file suit for a violation.Tennessee’s Tip Statute requires…
March 10, 2017
Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeff Bivins addressed the Tennessee Judicial Opiate Working Group on Tuesday to discuss the impact the September 2016 Regional Judicial Opioid Initiative Summit has made. Judge O. Duane Slone was chosen to lead the working group and also serves as chairman of…
March 3, 2017
Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice and Kingsport native Jeff Bivins was presented with a city proclamation recently at a Kingsport Chamber breakfast. Bivins was honored for his leadership and service.
The event featured Chief Justice Bivins speaking to members of the Kingsport business…
February 13, 2017
The Tennessee Supreme Court announced today (Monday) free legal advice events for all Tennesseans, from Memphis to Tri-Cities, as part of its Access to Justice Initiative, in which all Tennesseans are invited to get free civil legal help online or in person at walk-in clinics near them. …
February 6, 2017
The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear nine cases February 8-9, 2017, in Nashville, TN. The details of the cases are as follows: Wednesday, February 8, 2017State of Tennessee v. Walter H. Webb-This case involves a defendant who was convicted by a Wilson County jury of one count of…
January 27, 2017
Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon G. Lee and retired Supreme Court Justice William "Muecke" Barker have been recognized as part of University of Tennessee's Top 100 Distinguished Alumni. The recognition comes as The Tennessee Alumnus magazine celebrates it’s 100th continuous year of…
January 13, 2017
In a case involving the dismissal of a tenured teacher, the Tennessee Supreme Court has held that the Court of Appeals’ award to the teacher of partial back pay was not authorized under the Tennessee Teacher Tenure Act (Tenure Act). It also held that the teacher could not appeal the timeliness of…
January 10, 2017
The Tennessee Supreme Court has affirmed the Tennessee Board of Parole’s decision to deny parole to a prisoner based on the seriousness of the offense.In January 2009, Joseph Brennan pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted rape of a child and incest. Mr. Brennan, who was sentenced to twenty years…
January 10, 2017
The Tennessee Supreme Court has affirmed the Tennessee Board of Parole’s decision to deny parole to a prisoner based on the seriousness of the offense.In January 2009, Joseph Brennan pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted rape of a child and incest. Mr. Brennan, who was sentenced to twenty years…
January 6, 2017
The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear four cases on January 10, 2017 in Knoxville, TN. The details of the cases are as follows: Judith Moore-Pennoyer v. State of Tennessee, et al.– In this employment case, the Supreme Court will consider whether a person who has prevailed in a judicial…
December 30, 2016
The Tennessee Supreme Court has clarified that the criminal offense of stalking, as defined under Tennessee law, contains both an objective element and a subjective element of significant mental suffering or distress that must be met to sustain a conviction. The Court emphasized that the…
December 30, 2016
The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that application of the Exclusionary Rule Reform Act (“ERRA”), Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-6-108(a), to cases in which the evidence was seized prior to the statute’s enactment does not violate the constitutional prohibition against ex post facto laws. Ex post…
December 22, 2016
The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that the seller of an automated external defibrillator (AED) is not liable either to a woman whose husband died after collapsing at a church fitness center or to the church that purchased the AED.Sandra L. Wallis’s husband collapsed after participating in a…
December 20, 2016
Pro Bono attorney volunteers from East Tennessee and law school student volunteers participated in a free legal clinic in Gatlinburg, Tenn. on Monday, December 19, 2016, providing legal advice to those devastated by the Gatlinburg wildfires.
Legal Aid of East Tennessee, the Sevier County Bar…
December 19, 2016
The Tennessee Supreme Court has affirmed the convictions and sentences of death for Lemaricus Devall Davidson for the murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom in Knoxville.In January 2007, Mr. Davidson and others abducted Ms. Christian and Mr. Newsom outside of an apartment complex in…
December 13, 2016
The Supreme Court honored Attorneys for Justice in the Tri-Cities and Memphis this week as part of its pro bono recognition program. Attorneys from East Tennessee were recognized by Chief Justice Jeffrey Bivins as part of Legal Aid of East Tennessee’s (LAET) “Celebrate Pro Bono Dinner” on…
December 12, 2016
Lane College, in Jackson, Tennessee will be the site of the November 2017 Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education for Students (SCALES) project.Lane College, founded in 1882 by one of the nation’s early African American church denominations, is a small, private, co-educational institution that…
November 16, 2016
The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that the Drug-Free School Zone Act does not apply when a defendant is convicted of facilitating the sale of drugs in a school zone.In 2008, police raided a house in Davidson County where Stanley Bernard Gibson was visiting his girlfriend and found two duffel…