There is a .44 caliber ruger revolver on display in Judge Donald Parish’s office. It’s a reminder of one of his most memorable cases as an attorney, the State v. Ashby (1991). It’s also the fee he collected from his client.
“In 1990, Jack Ashby was prosecuted for selling some of his prescription medication to a police informant and there was no question of his guilt,” said Judge Parish. “The entire dispute involved what was the appropriate punishment. Ultimately, the decision of the Tennessee Supreme Court set what came to be the cornerstone of the concept of alternative sentencing for non-violent felons. That’s been the cornerstone case in the state of Tennessee for 30 years now.”
It’s one of three cases Judge Parish handled as an attorney that had a lasting, significant impact on the law. A few years after the Ashby case, he represented Ms. Curry (State v. Curry, 1999), who was being prosecuted for misappropriation of funds from her employer.
“She applied for diversion through me and that application was denied. That case worked its way up a very torturous path to the Supreme Court and the decision to deny diversion was eventually reversed by the Supreme Court. And, really, in that decision, the Court took the opportunity to build out on what they established in Ashby – the diversion concept or context – meaning that they continued to establish the body of law that we continue to follow in Tennessee with respect to alternative sentencing for non-violent offenders,” said Judge Parish.
The third case was on the civil side of Judge Parish’s law practice.
“I am most proud about representing a lady by the name of Mrs. Dotson (Dotson v. Blake, 2000),” he said. “In 2000, she had the misfortunate of colliding with the negligence of a real estate developer of a local government agency, in terms of approving development plans, and a young driver. The Supreme Court used that case to lay some of the groundwork for what was then becoming or developing as our Tennessee Doctrine of Comparative Fault, which was a sea-change in how we dealt with negligence cases here in Tennessee.”
During his nearly 25 years in private law practice, Judge Parish also served part-time as a Municipal Court Judge in his hometown of Huntingdon, Tennessee. He handled thousands of cases involving assorted misdemeanors, many of which he describes as barking dogs and traffic citations. The majority of cases, however, involved fellow community members.
“I learned that the real function of the trial judge was to operate in a way that would build respect for the basic notion that we should behave in a way that didn’t harm our neighbors, while also recognizing that we all have to live here at the end of the day when the dispute is over,” said Judge Parish. “Between that experience and 25 years of practicing law, when the opportunity became available to seek a full-time judicial position, I thought that it would be refreshing, personally, and give me a judicial opportunity to give back to the community. So, I pursued that opportunity in 2006.”
Judge Parish was elected to the bench in 2006 and tasked with serving Henry, Carroll, Benton, Decatur and Hardin counties, which run from the Kentucky line in the north to the Alabama line in the south.
“It has met my expectation in that it certainly has been refreshing,” he said. “I was able to see, as I hoped I would be, the same sort of issues that I dealt with as a practicing lawyer on a daily basis, but from a different perspective. That proved to be a personal pleasure and while it’s ultimately for other people to judge whether my time on the bench has been of any value, I would hope that my service to the folks in the five counties that I serve has ultimately been of some value.”
As a judge, he’s had the opportunity to have an impact on what the big picture of the law is through the case State v. Price (2019), when Judge Parish’s decision was reversed by the Supreme Court.
“The Supreme Court reversed me, in which I had held provisions of a state statute relative to probation to be unconstitutional based on the separation of powers point. The high court reversed me, saying that the controversy was not yet right for that decision. I think as the law is fleshed out in that area, it too will have the opportunity to shape the course of the law. I’m not yet clear on how all that will work out, but I will be watching and waiting,” he said.
Opportunities to deal with interesting legal issues, some of which are cutting edge, in which the controlling authority, if existent, is not particularly clear are what Judge Parish will miss most when he leaves the bench.
“There is the opportunity for a trial judge to shape the law and to interpret, and not just to arrive at a just outcome in a particular case before you, but to think more deeply about what the law should be in an area in which the appellate courts or the General Assembly hasn’t spoken,” he said.
He’s also enjoyed the times an attorney would cite to him one of the cases he was involved in.
“I often wondered when that happened whether the lawyer knew that was a case that I’d been involved in or not. I would think some did and some didn’t. Still, it would bring a smile to my face when those events took place,” said Judge Parish.
As for anyone seeking his vacancy, Judge Parish recommends candidates be prepared to work diligently and to change their lifestyles.
“Serving on the trial bench can be isolating and you’ll have to reflect upon your involvement in the community. The time you’ve previously spent with professional colleagues is going to change, to the extent that some judicial candidates feel as though it is an early retirement. They are particularly mistaken in the era of where we find ourselves now,” he said.
Despite his plans to retire, Judge Parish has a couple recommendations for the state and the judiciary.
“I would hope that at some point in the foreseeable future, Tennessee will restructure the trial judiciary so that the rural trial courts will hear either civil cases or criminal cases, as opposed to both, just like our urban trial courts do now. In the urban areas, you generally have a criminal court that’s dealing only with criminal cases and not civil cases,” said Judge Parish. “The second major parting point that I would make is judges are generally not politicians and they should not act that way. I would hope in response people would not treat them that way.”
Judge Parish holds numerous professional and academic memberships, past and present, which include the Tennessee Judicial Conference,(2006-Present); Tennessee Trial Judges Association (2006-Present); Carroll County Bar Association (former Treasurer and President); Tennessee Municipal Judges Association, Tennessee Bar Association, American Bar Association,Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, American Trial Lawyers Association, Tennessee Municipal Attorneys Association, Tennessee Council of School Boards Attorneys, West Tennessee Legal Services Corporation Board of Directors and the University of Tennessee National Alumni Association Board of Governors.
He received his bachelor’s degree with highest honors from the University of Tennessee, Martin, and his J.D. with high honors from the University of Tennessee College of Law.
Following his retirement in August 2022, Judge Parish and his wife, Cathy, plan to get some rest and work on causes that are particularly close to their hearts.
