News
April 2, 2002
The Eastern Section of the state Court of Appeals is going back to high school. But this time the court will be doing the teaching for 150 Knox County students.On April 15, for the first time, the court will hear oral argument in four actual cases on a high school campus. The half-day session at…
April 2, 2002
Attorneys hoping to become interim successor to retiring Circuit Court Judge Charles Haston in the 31st Judicial District, including Van Buren and Warren counties, must apply by the end of the business day April 22 to be considered, Cornelia Clark, administrative director of the courts, said…
April 11, 2002
The state Judicial Selection Commission will meet May 1 in McMinnville for a public hearing and to interview applicants hoping to succeed retiring Circuit Court Judge Charles Haston in the 31st Judicial District, including Van Buren and Warren counties. The meeting, beginning at 9 a.m., will be in…
April 17, 2002
High school students from Cocke, Grainger, Jefferson and Sevier counties will participate May 2 in a state Supreme Court program designed to educate young Tennesseans about the judicial branch of government.The 600 students and their teachers from 10 public and private schools will attend a special…
April 25, 2002
Foreign language court interpreters will be tested, credentialed and required to follow an ethics code addressing issues such as accuracy, impartiality, professional demeanor and confidentiality for the first time under two rules adopted Thursday by the Tennessee Supreme Court.“This rule recognizes…
April 26, 2002
With just one applicant to fill a Circuit Court vacancy in the 31st Judicial District, the state Judicial Selection Commission has cancelled a scheduled May 1 meeting and reopened the application process. The meeting to interview applicants and recommend names to Gov. Don Sundquist will be…
May 7, 2002
A majority of the Tennessee Supreme Court has upheld the first degree murder convictions and death sentences of James Henderson Dellinger and Gary Wayne Sutton for the 1992 Blount County murder of Tommy Mayford Griffin."We have reviewed all of the issues raised by the defendants and conclude that…
May 14, 2002
The death sentences a Nashville man received for hiring a friend to murder his wife and mother-in-law were upheld Tuesday by the Tennessee Supreme Court in a majority opinion written by Justice William M. Barker. The court unanimously affirmed the aggravated robbery and premeditated first degree…
June 7, 2002
Chief Justice Frank F. Drowota, III, of Nashville has been re-elected by the Tennessee Supreme Court to a four-year term ending Aug. 31, 2006.“I am honored to have been chosen by my colleagues to serve as chief justice,” he said. “I have the highest respect for their intellectual integrity,…
July 10, 2002
BellSouth cannot bar competing local telephone service providers from adding their logos to the covers of white pages directories, the Tennessee Supreme Court said Wednesday in a unanimous decision, upholding Tennessee Regulatory Authority judgments and overturning a ruling by the state Court of…
July 17, 2002
A $50,000 gift from a former Tennessee Court of Appeals judge will help improve and sustain a Memphis law library used for legal research by state appellate court judges.“We are grateful for the generosity of Judge Robert Love Taylor, who was a beloved and respected member of the Tennessee…
July 18, 2002
A Knox County juror who was the lone holdout against imposing a death sentence may have felt coerced to change his vote by a judge's jury instructions, the Tennessee Supreme Court said Friday in a unanimous opinion affirming the defendant's conviction, but ordering a new sentencing hearing.The…
August 9, 2002
Attorneys interested in filling a Memphis judicial vacancy, created by the Aug. 3 death of Chancellor Floyd Peete, Jr., must apply by the end of the business day Sept. 4 to be considered, Cornelia Clark, administrative director of the courts said Thursday."Those of us who had the privilege of…
August 12, 2002
Videos in Kurdish, Arabic, Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian, Laotian and English explaining basic rights of defendants, parental rights in abuse and neglect cases and how to obtain orders of protection are available on the court system website at www.tsc.state.tn.us."The videos are among several steps…
August 20, 2002
Justice Adolpho A. Birch, Jr., of the Tennessee Supreme Court has received the Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity’s top honor, the Barbara Jordan Award, for his lifetime commitment to public service.The award presented by the international organization is named in honor of former U.S. Rep. Barbara of…
August 21, 2002
Chief Justice Frank Drowota, III, the longest-serving judge in the 178-member Tennessee Judicial Conference, will be sworn in Friday at 1:30 p.m. for a full four-year term as chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court.His mother, Mrs. Vivian Drowota, also of Nashville, will attend the ceremony in…
August 29, 2002
A standard for state appellate court review of cases in which juries have rejected insanity defenses was announced Thursday by the Tennessee Supreme Court in a decision involving a Memphis man who shot a church counselor.The court unanimously held that appellate courts reviewing cases in which…
August 27, 2002
The state's 19,000 lawyers and their clients will be affected beginning March 1, 2003, by substantially revised ethics rules for attorneys adopted Tuesday by the Tennessee Supreme Court to replace the current 32-year-old code of conduct. The court's order overhauling the rules was prompted by a…
September 4, 2002
The public is entitled to scrutinize the records of private entities doing business with the state to the extent they become the “functional equivalent” of government agencies, the Tennessee Supreme Court said Thursday in a decision addressing two significant right-to-know issues.The unanimous…
September 16, 2002
The death sentence Richard Hale Austin received for his role in the murder-for-hire fatal shooting of a Memphis undercover agent was affirmed Monday in a 4-1 decision by the Tennessee Supreme Court.Austin has twice been sentenced to death for paying Jack Charles Blankenship to kill Julian Watkins…