Blog Entries

All Briefs Are Now Filed In the Case of the “Obviously Very, Very Qualified” Vanderbilt Law Student Prevented from Taking Bar Exam (June 30, 2017)

It’s all fun and games until someone gets arrested: Predators fan charged for catfish toss (May 30, 2017)

New Law Reduces Tennessee’s Expungement Fee for Convictions from $450 to $280 (May 26, 2017)

Tennessee Supreme Court Holds that Divorce Contracts Must be Enforced as Written (May 25, 2017)

Nashville Scene: “The Tennessee Supreme Court Keeps Reversing Itself, and Criminal Defense Attorneys Are Worried” (April 13, 2017)

February 2017 Tennessee Bar Results: Vanderbilt 100%, NSL 36%, Others Hover around 50% (April 7, 2017)

Jason Bryant Statement on Recent Coverage Regarding Lillelid Murders (April 2, 2017)

Metro Drops “Obscene Bumper Sticker” Citation Against Dustin Owens; Concedes Bumper Sticker Is Protected By the First Amendment (March 13, 2017)

Bill Introduced to Allow In-Home Beauty Services in Tennessee (February 9, 2017)

New in the February 2017 Tennessee Bar Journal: Safeguarding Crime Victims’ Private Records Following The Tennessean v. Metro (February 2, 2017)

The Tennessee Supreme Court Has Agreed to Hear a Laughably Egregious Case of Economic Protectionism (February 1, 2017)

U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Tennessee Sixth Amendment Case on Immigration-Related Plea Bargains (December 16, 2016)

Grading Nashville Policymakers on Criminal Justice Reform: A Report Card (December 4, 2016)

Tennessean Op Ed: Right to counsel a fundamental constitutional right (November 4, 2016)

No, Justin Timberlake Did Not Break the Law By Taking a Ballot Selfie (October 25, 2016)

Slate: An Attorney and a DA Are Seeking Justice for Tennesseans Convicted of “Homosexual Acts” (October 21, 2016)

July 2016 Tennessee Bar Results: 5 out of 6 Tennessee Law Schools Exceed 70%, Nashville School of Law Musters Just 28% (October 7, 2016)

Tennessee Board of Cosmetology Backs Down, Withdraws Threatened Enforcement Action Against Project Belle (October 3, 2016)

Case Update:  Memphis’s 48-Hour Investigative Hold Policy Heads to the Supreme Court (October 2, 2016)

Making a Mess: The Indigent Defense Crisis Undermining the Criminal Justice System Throughout Tennessee (August 15, 2016)

Memphis’s 48-Hour Investigative Hold Policy Heads to the Supreme Court (August 11, 2016)

Editorial: Senate Republicans’ inaction puts judiciary in crisis (August 5, 2016)

Tennessee Supreme Court Restricts Coram Nobis Relief, Overturning Recent Precedent Yet Again (July 21, 2016)

First Amendment Rights of Public Employees (July 21, 1016)

Revealing Disturbing Gap in Tennessee Law, Tennessee Supreme Court Rules that Allegedly Retarded Death Row Inmate Is Not Entitled to Prove that He’s Retarded (April 19, 2016)

Tennessee’s February 2016 Bar Results Released: Vanderbilt Reclaims Top Spot, Nashville School of Law Performs Poorly Again (April 8, 2016)

Op Ed: Veto bill aimed at quelling sexual harassment claims (April 5, 2016)

Law Enforcement Investigative Files Are Not Public Records, Holds Tennessee Supreme Court (March 22, 2016)

A win for substance over form: Tennessee Supreme Court holds that Tennessee’s one-year savings statute applies to tolling agreements (March 8, 2016)

Constitutional Standards of Scrutiny and Using the First Amendment to Interpret the Second (February 17, 2016)

Tennessee Supreme Court: If you commit any minor driving infraction in Tennessee, you can be pulled over. Also, you’re a criminal (February 13. 2016)

You know that state law that prohibits cities in Tennessee from raising the minimum wage? It doesn’t.  (February 2, 2016)

The law protects victims of sexual harassment and domestic violence, even when elected officials do not (January 30, 2016).

Yes, you may legally vote in another party’s primary under Tennessee law (January 28, 2016).

Man vs. Drone: Lawsuit Could Clarify Rights of Drone Operators to Fly Over Private Land (January 15, 2016).

Metro Can Sue Its Own Zoning Board, Holds Tennessee Supreme Court (January 3, 2016).

Tennessee Supreme Court gives trial courts more latitude in determining proper sanctions for spoliation of evidence (December 14, 2015).

In its most consequential ruling of the year, Tennessee Supreme Court modifies Tennessee’s summary judgment standard, adopts federal “put up or shut up” rule (December 9, 2015).

Tennessee Supreme Court voids judgment for lack of personal jurisdiction; establishes standard for determining when void judgments are still binding (December 7, 2015).

All claims related to the provision of health care are now governed by the Health Care Liability Act, holds Tennessee Supreme Court (December 7, 2015).

Five Pennsylvania insurance companies recoup $16 million in tax payments after Tennessee Supreme Court holds that retaliatory taxes were improperly assessed (November 9, 2015).

In 4-1 ruling, Tennessee Supreme Court holds that procedural obstacles keep Clarksville man’s claim out of court (November 6, 2015).

In controversial 3-2 decision, Tennessee Supreme Court affirms death penalty conviction that is virtually certain to be subsequently overturned (November 3, 2015).

Tennessee Public Protection Act claims do not include a right to a jury trial, holds Tennessee Supreme Court (November 2, 2015).

Banned Books Week is an excellent opportunity to reflect on the dangers of censorship and the importance of the First Amendment (September 29, 2015).

Officials, Organizations, Community Activists Proclaim Support for Mass Expungement Effort (September 22, 2015).

A Picture’s Worth A Thousand Words:  Why Ballot Selfies Are Protected by the First Amendment (September 10, 2015).

Tennessee Supreme Court holds that businesses may lawfully refuse to hire employees solely because they’ve previously filed for workers’ compensation (September 8, 2015).

Tennessee Supreme Court Affirms Conviction Despite Prosecutor Submitting Wrong Allegation to Jury (September 5, 2015)

The U.S. Supreme Court and Off-Campus, Online Student Speech (August 31, 2015).

Summary of Tennessee’s For-Profit Benefit Corporation Statute (August 27, 2015).

Beacon Center Sues Nashville Over Airbnb Regulations (August 26, 2015).

Tennessee Supreme Court holds that family is entitled to keep its farm because it acquired “title by prescription”  (August 19, 2015).

Idaho’s “Ag-Gag” Bill Struck Down on Federal Constitutional Grounds (August 5, 2015).

Tennessee Supreme Court holds that a special jury instruction is not required when a defendant is charged with kidnapping and robbery of separate victims (July 29, 2015).

Tennessee Supreme Court denies inmates’ request to challenge constitutionality of the electric chair, but holds that they will have the opportunity to do so in the future (July 25, 2015)

The Second Circuit weighs in on economic protectionism, an issue which could affect Nashville’s proposed local hire referendum (July 24, 2015)

Tennessee Supreme Court holds that insurance assignment clause was ineffective (July 20, 2015)

Can Rep. Womick Impeach Governor Haslam and U.S. Supreme Court Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, Kagan, Kennedy and Sotomayor over the same-sex marriage ruling? (July 14, 2015)

Jury’s verdict that CSX was liable for negligently causing a former employee’s lung cancer will stand, but CSX is entitled to a new trial addressing damages, holds Tennessee Supreme Court (July 14, 2015).

Does the Constitution prevent Nashville from enacting a local hire law? Yes, it probably does (July 1, 2015).

FedEx can deliver HCLA pre-suit notice letters, too, holds Tennessee Supreme Court (June 30, 2015).

Tennessee’s Double Jeopardy standard may be applied retroactively, holds Tennessee Supreme Court (June 29, 2015).

SCOTUS Decision Day Roundup: Supreme Court upholds ACA subsidies and approves disparate impact claims under the Fair Housing Act (June 25, 2015).

No, the Double Jeopardy Clause does not prevent re-trial in the Vanderbilt rape case.  (June 24, 2015).

SCOTUS Decision Day Roundup: Spider-Man royalties, raisin takings, and some Supreme Court humor (June 22, 2015).

Is Nashville’s Airbnb Ordinance Constitutional?  Maybe not.   (June 21, 2015).

SCOTUS Decision Day Roundup: A Criminal Justice and First Amendment Jubilee (June 18, 2015).

Tennessee Supreme Court Holds that a Witness’s Claim of Memory Loss Concerning Prior Statements Can Trigger Hearsay Exceptions and that Inconsistent Verdicts Are Acceptable (June 16, 2015)

Juror Bias Under Tennessee Law, and What to Expect in the Vanderbilt Rape Case (June 16, 2015)

Tennessee Supreme Court approves one-sided arbitration clauses that require one party to arbitrate all disputes while allowing the other party to seek judicial review for limited purposes  (June 8, 2015)

Tennessee Supreme Court Should Correct Lower Courts’ Erroneous Interpretation of its Decision in Stevens v. Hickman, Restore Sanity to Health Care Liability Act Cases  (June 4, 2015)

Tennessee Supreme Court holds that recorded forensic interviews in child sex cases are subject to evidentiary constraints on admitting prior consistent statements, reaffirms rule regarding offers of proof, and breathes life into cumulative error doctrine  (June 3, 2015)

Doctors must prospectively disclose all significant medical risks to their patients—not just those risks that ultimately cause harm, holds Tennessee Supreme Court  (June 2, 2015)

Zero Is Not a Number For Purposes of Tennessee’s Health Care Liability Act, Says Tennessee Supreme Court  ()