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TBA Law Blog

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Towns Renews Bill to Remove Slavery from Tennessee Constitution

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 15, 2019
State Rep. Joe Towns is renewing legislation to eliminate slavery and involuntary servitude from the Tennessee Constitution, The Daily Memphian reports. The Memphis Democrat said he was “shocked” a few years ago when he found out slavery still exists in Article I Section 33 of the state Constitution, which tracks the U.S. 13th Amendment and narrows the category of slaves to those convicted of a crime. Towns passed a similar resolution 95-0 on the House floor in 2018, but the measure’s Senate companion failed to start moving in that chamber soon enough to be considered before the Legislature adjourned.

Sen. Kelsey Introduces Bill Supporting Pay for Student Athletes

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 15, 2019
Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, introduced a resolution earlier this month that, if passed, would instruct Tennessee’s public universities to work with their athletic conferences to oppose the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s prohibition on compensation for student athletes, The Nashville Post reports. Kelsey is citing this weekend’s American Athletic Conference and Southeastern Conference basketball tournaments in the state as a reason for the call to pay student athletes. He said that "exploiting these athletes is a violation of their economic liberty and civil rights."

Weekly Video Legislative Update Available - March 14

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 14, 2019
The TBA's weekly video legislative update is now available on Facebook and YouTube. This week's update tracks the progress of the TBA's bills, as well as an overview of the status of this year's session, and features TBA lobbyist Brad Lampley as a special guest.

Bill Stripping Subpoena Power for Community Oversight Boards Passes State House

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 14, 2019
A contentious bill that would limit how community police oversight boards can operate across Tennessee has passed the state House, the Tennessean reports. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Michael Curcio, R-Dickson, would strip Metro Nashville's new civilian-led police review board of its authority to subpoena people and evidence. The Senate version, sponsored by Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, advanced in committee last week, though with an amendment allowing a process for obtaining subpoenas.

Rep. Towns Fined Another $10K for Campaign Finance Violations

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 13, 2019
State Rep. Joe Towns’ civil penalties reached $45,000 Wednesday after the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance fined him another $10,000 for failing to file campaign reports, The Daily Memphian reports. The Registry now has assessed four outstanding $10,000 civil penalties against Towns for failing to file reports and late filing and another $5,000 penalty for late filing of an appointment of treasurer. Wednesday’s penalty was for the third period in 2018. Towns said he has no intention of paying any of the fines but plans to run for re-election in 2020.

Rose Wins State Senate Special Election

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 13, 2019
Covington businessman Paul Rose is the new state senator from District 32, The Daily Memphian reports. Rose was the winner over Democratic nominee Eric Coleman in yesterday’s special general election for the seat, keeping it in the Republican column. Rose will fill the unfinished term of former Sen. Mark Norris, who was nominated and confirmed last year as a federal judge. Rose's term runs to the end of 2020.

Sen. Kelsey Proposes Increasing Campaign Finance Limits for Senators

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 11, 2019
Legislation by state Sen. Brian Kelsey that could dramatically increase Senate candidate fundraising is scheduled to be heard in a committee this week, The Daily Memphian reports. Kelsey introduced his legislation recently with a handwritten amendment that rewrote the bill during a State and Local Government Committee meeting. He told committee members the amendment “was basically doubling” campaign contribution limits on the Senate side to mirror House campaign contribution limits.

Voting Starts Tomorrow in Shelby, Tipton Counties for Special Senate Election

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 11, 2019
Voting begins tomorrow in a special election for voters in eastern Shelby County and Tipton County, The Daily Memphian reports. This will be the first contested general election race for state Senate District 32 in 15 years. Republican nominee Paul Rose of Tipton County and Democratic nominee Eric Coleman of Shelby County are the contenders for the seat held for 16 years by Collierville Republican Mark Norris. The special election was called by former Gov. Bill Haslam following Norris’ resignation to become a federal court judge. The winner serves out the two years remaining in Norris’ term of office, until the end of 2020.

TBA Legislative Update: State of the State

Posted by: Berkley Schwarz on Mar 8, 2019
Before the House chamber, Gov. Bill Lee recently delivered his first State of the State address to a joint session of the Tennessee General Assembly. He emphasized the importance of criminal justice reform and the need to move away from the “lock them up and throw away the key” mentality that he said has long prevailed in Tennessee. Lee also announced the creation of a task force, to be chaired by senior advisor and former judge Brandon Gibson, that will develop legislative and budgetary recommendations on various issues, including crime prevention, recidivism, victim support, mental health, and reforming the criminal code and sentencing guidelines. In the legislature next week, committee activity will continue to ramp up as leadership encourages members to put their bills on notice, with a target goal of May 1 for adjournment. See more legislative coverage via TBA's Legislative Update on the TBA YouTube channel.

General Assembly to Consider Exempting Inmates with Mental Illness from Death Penalty

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 8, 2019
Tennessee lawmakers will once again debate over criminals being exempt from the death penalty because of a severe mental illness, NewsChannel 5 reports. The bill, which will be heard by the Criminal Justice Subcommittee next week, would exempt a person from being sentenced to death if that person had a previous medical diagnosis of a severe mental illness and is determined to be in a psychotic state at the time of the crime. In order to meet the requirement, the person must be diagnosed with these mental disorders defined by the American Psychiatric Association: schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder with psychosis, major depressive disorder with psychosis and delusional disorder.
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