The Tennessee Bar Association is now accepting nominations for three awards that will be presented at its 2026 Annual Convention. The Claudia Jack Award honors an outstanding public defender or court-appointed private practitioner who has served the legal community and clients in an exemplary fashion. It is named after the late Claudia Jack, a public defender and long-time champion of the poor and underprivileged. The Justice Frank F. Drowota III Outstanding Judicial Service Award is given to a judge or judicial branch official of a federal, state or local court in Tennessee who has demonstrated extraordinary devotion and dedication to the improvement of the law, the legal system and the administration of justice, as exemplified by the career of former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Frank Drowota. Submit nominations for either of these two awards by April 6. The Fourth Estate Award honors courageous reporting on justice and the law. Nominees must be Tennessee-based journalists who have shown exemplary courage in exercising First Amendment rights in the promotion of public understanding of how the law and our legal system works, or how it should work, as demonstrated by a story or series of related stories published in 2025. Read more about the award in TBA's press release. Submit nominations for the Fourth Estate Award online by April 30. Access the submission forms for each award on the pages linked above.

The Tennessee Bar Association again this year will honor the work of Tennessee journalists through the Fourth Estate Award, which honors courageous reporting on justice and the law. This year's prize, honoring reporting in 2025, includes a $250 honorarium for the winner. The TBA strongly supports freedom of expression under the First Amendment, as exercised by lawyers on behalf of their clients and by journalists on behalf of the public, and particularly wants to recognize and encourage journalists who promote public understanding of the rule of law and our system of justice through vigorous exercise of their First Amendment rights. The deadline for entry is April 30. Submit a nomination here. Attorneys who have relationships with reporters or observed a particularly compelling piece of journalism in 2025 are encouraged to submit a nomination. Read about past recipients here and read the TBA's full press release.

Democrat-sponsored legislation that would restore voting rights for formerly incarcerated people passed with bipartisan support in the state Senate, the Nashville Post reports. SB336/HB687 would remove a current requirement that individuals returning from incarceration have to pay off outstanding court fees in order to restore their voting rights. It also restructures a current requirement that those individuals must be caught up on any child support payments. Under the legislation, they would be required to be compliant with child support orders only within the past year. A House version of the bill passed the Judiciary Committee last month and is waiting further action.

THAPAR, Circuit Judge. While on supervised release, Terrell Williams defrauded a woman out of $300,000 by falsely claiming that he had been kidnapped and needed ransom money. He also faked drug tests to hide his ongoing drug use. And he drove with a suspended license. As a result, the district court revoked his supervised release and sentenced him to 30 months’ imprisonment. Seeing no error, we affirm.

JOHN K. BUSH, Circuit Judge. In these consolidated appeals, Glenn Whiting and his attorney, Van Irion, appeal the denial of their motions to recuse and the grant of appellees’ motions for sanctions. Seeing no abuse of discretion, we AFFIRM.

NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judge. In 2001, Scot Gaither kidnapped and killed his business partner. A Kentucky jury convicted him of various crimes, and he received a life sentence. Ever since, he has spent his time petitioning state and federal courts to nullify various aspects of his trial, sentencing, and appeals. Most recently, Gaither filed an unsuccessful federal habeas petition. Now, we review two of the rejected claims from that petition. Gaither, who prosecuted his original state-court appeal pro se, says he actually didn’t waive his right to counsel on direct appeal. He also claims that his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective. But he explicitly waived his right to appellate counsel, and he procedurally defaulted on the second claim, so we AFFIRM.

A Knox County grand jury convicted the defendant, Todd Lee White, of unlawful possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and resisting arrest, for which he received an effective sentence of twenty-four years. On appeal, the defendant argues the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress and in sentencing him as a Range III persistent offender. After reviewing the record, hearing oral argument, and considering the applicable law, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The defendant, Lamar Lanair Denson, was convicted by a Knox County Criminal Court jury of the sale of fentanyl, a Class C felony; possession of heroin with intent to sell or deliver, a Class B felony; possession of fentanyl with intent to sell or deliver, a Class C felony; possession of a firearm by one with a prior conviction for a felony drug offense, a Class C felony; maintaining a dwelling for the unlawful selling of controlled substances, a Class D felony; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor. The trial court imposed an effective sentence of fourteen years’ incarceration followed by five years on supervised probation. On appeal, the defendant argues that the trial court abused its discretion in: (1) denying his motion to dismiss Count 5 of the indictment, a charge related to the sale of fentanyl, due to the loss of potentially exculpatory evidence; and (2) reopening the proof to allow the State to enter into evidence a stipulation regarding the defendant’s status as having a prior conviction that would disqualify him from possessing a firearm . Following a thorough review of the record, the briefs, and oral arguments of the parties, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

A Knox County jury convicted the defendant, Jomo Kenyatta Berry, of one count of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, one count of aggravated stalking, two counts of vandalism, three counts of reckless endangerment, one count of theft, one count of burglary of a vehicle, one count of attempted second-degree murder, and one count of aggravated assault, for which he received an effective sentence of forty-one years in confinement. On appeal, the defendant contends the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his conviction for aggravated assault. The defendant also argues the trial court erred in denying his motion to sever, the trial court failed to give complete and accurate jury instructions, and improper argument by the State affected the verdict. After reviewing the record and considering the applicable law, we remand the case to the trial court for entry of corrected judgment forms in counts five, eight, eleven, and fourteen. In all other respects, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

This is an action to enforce an oral agreement for the transfer of stock in a corporation formed to purchase a parcel of commercial real estate. The plaintiff alleged that he helped obtain financing for the purchase in exchange for 50% of the company. The defendants alleged that the plaintiff had only an option to buy a 50% interest within one year of closing. The trial court credited the plaintiff's testimony and awarded him a judgment for his share of the company's profits. This appeal followed. We affirm.