News
March 4, 2005
n a series of seminars sponsored by the Administrative Office of the Courts and supported by a grant from the Governor's Highway Safety Office, judges across the state are being educated about legal issues in the impaired driving cases they hear."These educational seminars are providing general…
March 4, 2005
The Tennessee Supreme Court has affirmed the felony murder conviction and death sentence Memphis jurors imposed on Andrew Thomas, who shot an armored truck guard in the back of the head, stole his victim's money deposit bag and went on a shopping spree.Thomas was sentenced to death for the 1997…
April 4, 2005
Students from 17 public and private high schools in Giles, Lawrence, Maury and Wayne counties will hear arguments in three state Supreme Court cases as participants in a program created to educate young Tennesseans about the judicial branch of government.The 550 students and their teachers will…
April 12, 2005
Calling jurors “full partners in court proceedings” and recognizing their “profound impact” on the state, the Tennessee Supreme Court has issued a proclamation designating May as Juror Appreciation Month.“Jury trials have been part of Anglo-American law for centuries, having been guaranteed in…
April 15, 2005
Tennessee’s criminal sentencing laws do not violate the Sixth Amendment guarantee of a jury trial and were not affected by two United States Supreme Court rulings last year addressing the authority of judges to enhance sentences, the state Supreme Court said Friday in a 3-2 decision.Chief Justice…
April 15, 2005
Tennessee’s criminal sentencing laws do not violate the Sixth Amendment guarantee of a jury trial and were not affected by two United States Supreme Court rulings last year addressing the authority of judges to enhance sentences, the state Supreme Court said Friday in a 3-2 decision.Chief Justice…
May 9, 2005
The Tennessee Supreme Court has affirmed the conviction and death sentence a Missouri man received for killing a Dyer County tow truck driver who had answered his murderer’s Sunday morning call for help.Steven Ray Thacker was convicted of first degree murder for the Jan. 2, 2000, stabbing death of…
May 23, 2005
The Tennessee Supreme Court has set a legal standard for “abandonment” of property for school purposes in a case involving an attempt by heirs to reclaim land conveyed - with conditions attached - to Davidson County schools nearly 100 years ago.In 1908, George E. and Sarah Haley sold the one-acre…
May 24, 2005
American Legion Boys State delegates from high schools in all 95 counties will participate Wednesday, May 25, in the SCALES Program, an acronym for the Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education for Students. SCALES is a Tennessee Supreme Court initiative designed to educate young Tennesseans about…
May 24, 2005
The Tennessee Supreme Court has rejected Paul Dennis Reid’s appeal of his convictions and death sentences for the 1997 stabbing murders of two young women he had kidnapped from a Clarksville ice cream parlor.In an opinion written by Justice E. Riley Anderson, the court affirmed Reid’s convictions…
May 31, 2005
More than 100 print and broadcast reporters and editors from across Tennessee will gather in Nashville June 6 to attend a Law School for Journalists, co-sponsored by the Tennessee Supreme Court and the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University.“Legal issues and the judicial system are complex…
June 6, 2005
Chief Justice Frank F. Drowota, III, who has served longer than any of the 183 active state court judges, is retiring after 35 years of judicial service, including a quarter century on the Tennessee Supreme Court and two terms as chief justice.Drowota“This morning I visited with and delivered to…
August 12, 2004
Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Adolpho A. Birch, Jr., and 20th Judicial District Criminal Court Judge Monte Watkins have received honors from the National Bar Association (NBA). Founded in 1925, the NBA is the oldest and largest organization of African-American lawyers and judges with 20,000…
September 1, 2005
For the fourth time since 1990, E. Riley Anderson of Knoxville has been elected chief justice of the five-member Tennessee Supreme Court. He succeeds former Chief Justice Frank F. Drowota, III, who retired from the court effective Sept. 2.In an order filed Friday, the court unanimously said…
September 9, 2005
Cornelia Clark, administrative director of the Tennessee court system, has been invited to represent United States courts at a conference in Madrid, organized by Spanish officials to assist with a legally-mandated overhaul of their judicial system."Our legal system often is used by other nations as…
September 14, 2005
The Tennessee Judicial Evaluation Commission will meet in Memphis Thursday and Friday to interview nine of the state's 29 appellate court judges who will be evaluated to help voters make informed decisions in 2006.The evaluation of appellate court judges was mandated by the legislature in 1994. The…
September 19, 2005
Nashville - Governor Phil Bredesen today named Cornelia "Connie" Clark to serve as the newest justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court, where she will fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Frank Drowota."Each day in her work, Judge Clark displays the qualities required in a Supreme…
September 27, 2005
The Tennessee Supreme Court has set a Nov. 1 deadline for applicants hoping to succeed Justice Cornelia Clark as director of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) in Nashville. Clark served as AOC director from 1999 until last week when Gov. Phil Bredesen appointed her to the state Supreme…
October 4, 2005
William M. Barker of Chattanooga was unanimously elected Tuesday by the Tennessee Supreme Court to serve as its chief justice. He will be sworn in Wednesday at the Supreme Court Building in Nashville prior to the start of a 10 a.m. docket.“I am deeply honored to have been chosen by my colleagues on…
October 6, 2005
In a first of its kind decision, the Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled 4-1 in favor of a woman who gave birth to triplets using donated eggs fertilized with the sperm of a man who later claimed she was not the legal mother because she has no genetic link to the children.The majority opinion filed…