News
August 31, 2022
The Tennessee Supreme Court recognizes Attorney General Herbert Slatery III, who was appointed for an eight-year term in 2014, for his public service to the State of Tennessee. General Slatery’s term ends August 31, 2022, and the Supreme Court has named Jonathan Skrmetti as his successor.“The…
August 30, 2022
Today, the Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated a sentence for a now-repealed criminal offense. The Court held that a person who commits an offense that is later repealed must be prosecuted under the law in effect when the offense was committed, unless the legislature says otherwise.Marvin Maurice…
August 22, 2022
The Tennessee Supreme Court has appointed a new Reporter to the Advisory Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure. Jeffrey Usman, who was recently appointed by Governor Lee to the Court of Appeals, has served as the Reporter. Lynn Zehrt, professor at Belmont University College of Law,…
August 18, 2022
In a lawsuit by a well-known record producer challenging Nashville’s laws restricting home-based businesses, the Tennessee Supreme Court today vacated the previous court decisions. Noting that Metro Nashville had recently amended the law to make it less restrictive, the Supreme Court decided the…
August 10, 2022
The Tennessee Supreme Court has selected Jonathan Skrmetti to serve as the state’s next Attorney General and Reporter.From 2018 to late 2021, Skrmetti was the Chief Deputy Attorney General in the Attorney General’s Office, where he managed approximately 160 attorneys in 15 litigating divisions and…
August 8, 2022
Today, the Tennessee Supreme Court held formal interviews in a public hearing for the six applicants for Tennessee’s new Attorney General and Reporter.“The applicants were all remarkable, experienced, and gracious in their answers during a robust interview process,” Chief Justice Roger A. Page said…
August 2, 2022
Tennessee appellate courts recently livestreamed their 1,000th case, greatly improving accessibility and transparency in the court system. While the Tennessee Supreme Court began video recording oral arguments in October of 2018, these recordings were posted several days to weeks later. The first…
August 1, 2022
The Tennessee Supreme Court will begin a public hearing on August 8, 2022, that will include formal interviews of the six applicants for Attorney General and Reporter. Under the state constitution, the Tennessee Attorney General and Reporter is appointed by the state Supreme Court and serves an…
July 29, 2022
The Tennessee Supreme Court has received six applications for the state's Attorney General and Reporter position. The applicants are:Donald Q. Cochran, Jr.Jerome CochranDavid Michael DunavantR. Culver SchmidJonathan Thomas SkrmettiWilliam Edwin "Bill" YoungInterviews will be held on August 8 and 9…
July 12, 2022
The Tennessee Supreme Court will begin accepting applications for the position of State Attorney General and Reporter on July 15, 2022. Under the state constitution, the Tennessee Attorney General and Reporter is appointed by the state Supreme Court and serves an eight-year term. The term for the…
June 27, 2022
The Tennessee Supreme Court today reversed a Davidson County trial court’s calculation of attorney fees awarded after dismissal of a contractor’s claim against a Middle Tennessee homeowner. The Court held that, under Tennessee law, the trial court’s limit on the attorney fee award was error.…
June 21, 2022
The Tennessee Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission publicly launched the Tennessee Justice Bus today at the Tennessee Supreme Court Building in Nashville. The TN Justice Bus is a mobile law office that brings technology to rural and underserved communities. The TN Justice Bus is a passenger…
June 21, 2022
Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sarah K. Campbell was recently joined by state and federal dignitaries, current and former colleagues, family, and friends for her public investiture ceremony at Belmont University’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts.
Justice Campbell was appointed to the…
June 10, 2022
The Tennessee Supreme Court in a unanimous decision clarified the appropriate legal standard to be applied in post-conviction cases involving allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel based on counsel’s alleged failure to seek suppression of evidence on Fourth Amendment grounds.Petitioner…
June 10, 2022
The Tennessee Supreme Court today held that the Tennessee Republican Party and its State Executive Committee (“Republican Party”) did not violate the Tennessee Open Meetings Act (“TOMA”) when they determined that Mr. Robert Starbuck Newsom a/k/a Robby Starbuck (“Mr. Starbuck”) would not be added to…
June 6, 2022
The Tennessee Supreme Court has affirmed the thirty-day suspension of Davidson County attorney Candes Vonniest Prewitt from the practice of law in Tennessee.A Board of Professional Responsibility hearing panel found that Ms. Prewitt violated multiple provisions of the Tennessee Rules of…
June 1, 2022
The Tennessee Supreme Court today upheld sentences imposed by the Hardin County Circuit Court for drug offenses that occurred in a drug-free zone. Offenses committed in drug-free zones, most often around schools, provide for enhanced punishment above that for offenses committed in other…
May 27, 2022
The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is bound by a trial court’s order expunging criminal charges and must comply even if the TBI disagrees with the order.In 2015, the plaintiff, an unnamed citizen of McNairy County, Tennessee, negotiated a guilty…
May 26, 2022
The Tennessee Supreme Court has one case set for its June 1, 2022 docket. The case will be heard in Nashville, Tennessee, beginning at 11:15 a.m. and will be livestreamed to: https://www.youtube.com/user/TNCourts/featured. The details of the case are as follows:Greg Adkisson, et al. v. Jacobs…
May 18, 2022
In an opinion released today, the Tennessee Supreme Court determined that, while two Tennessee county governments had standing to challenge the Education Savings Account Pilot Program (the “ESA Act”), the Act is not rendered unconstitutional by the Home Rule Amendment, article XI, section 9, of the…