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Jacobs Engineering settles Kingston coal ash case
After 10 years of litigation, workers who were forced to work without personal protection to clean up the Tennessee Valley Authority’s massive coal ash spill at its Kingston Fossil Plant in 2008 have reached a settlement in the case. TVA’s disaster clean-up contractor Jacobs Engineering posted a one-line notice Monday on its website affirming that […]
Report: TVA’s Allen Fossil Plant in Memphis ranks #10 in most contaminated U.S. sites
(Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comment from TVA.) The Tennessee Valley Authority’s coal ash dumps in Memphis rank among the worst in the nation for contamination of groundwater with cancer-causing toxins, according to a new report that relied on the power provider’s own records. TVA’s coal ash dumps at the now-defunct Allen […]
Landmark TN Supreme Court decision finds mandatory life sentences for juveniles unconstitutional
In a landmark decision, a majority panel of the Tennessee Supreme Court on Friday struck down as unconstitutional mandatory life sentences for juveniles. “In fulfilling our duty to decide constitutional issues, we hold that an automatic life sentence when imposed on a juvenile homicide offender with no consideration of the juvenile’s age or other circumstances […]
Knoxville-based TeamHealth sued by insurer for “fraudulent conduct”
An insurer for a Tennessee firm embroiled in a medical overbilling scandal is refusing to pay the tab for what it calls “fraudulent conduct,” court records show. Ironshore Specialty Insurance Company has filed suit in U.S. District Court against Knoxville emergency medical outsourcing firm TeamHealth. The insurer says in the litigation that TeamHealth wants the […]
6th Circuit serves victory to Marine Corps veteran agains Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies
A federal appellate court this week served up a legal victory for a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who sued the Hamilton County law enforcers who detained him on the side of the road without cause for nearly an hour in a fruitless search for marijuana. The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is refusing to […]
6th Circuit upholds decision to strip Knoxville cop of immunity in shooting
A federal appellate court is upholding a decision to strip a Knoxville Police Department officer of immunity in a wrongful death lawsuit over the officer’s shooting of an unarmed man in the back. The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals turned aside an appeal by KPD Officer Dylan Williams, who fatally shot an unarmed Channara […]
Indicted former Knox County Sheriff’s chief no longer mentally competent for trial, lawyer says
A former chief of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office accused of using the agency’s drug fund and a county credit card as a piggy bank and on-duty subordinates as a private construction crew is no longer mentally competent enough to stand trial, his attorney says. Attorney Robert Kurtz says in a recent motion that David […]
Grainger County settles suit over “sex shows” in jail
Grainger County taxpayers will be shelling out $110,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging a former corrections officer forced female inmates to put on “sex shows” that he viewed from atop milk crates in a control room as he masturbated, records show. Attorneys for Candace McGhee, Chasity Bailey and Wendy Brown have filed notice in U.S. […]
As trial looms, accused child killer Boswell fires her attorney
With her trial looming, a Sullivan County teenaged mom accused of stuffing her 15-month-old daughter inside a trash can where she smothered to death has fired her court-appointed attorney. Sullivan County Criminal Court Judge James Goodwin on Friday allowed Megan Boswell’s current attorney to withdraw from her case and appointed a new attorney. The move […]
Prominent Tennessee lawyers get malpractice suit from former client over Gatlinburg fire claims
A man whose wife and children died in the 2016 deadly wildfires in Gatlinburg is suing the lawyers he says cost him and more than 500 other victims a chance at restitution from the federal government. Michael Reed, whose wife and two children burned to death after being trapped by a wall of fire in […]
Johnson City top cop admits officers were aware of sexual assault claims against businessman
Johnson City’s police chief is admitting in court records that his agency knew a downtown business owner was suspected of plying women with drugs and sexually assaulting them but never sought to question him about it — even after a distraught woman told officers she had just been raped by him. Despite that admission, Johnson […]
Tennessee court upholds Second Amendment rights for public housing tenants
In a landmark decision, a state appellate court on Thursday ruled public housing landlords cannot bar tenants from possessing guns in their residences. The first-of-its-kind ruling by the Tennessee Court of Appeals means public housing authorities across the state can no longer prohibit tenants from having guns as a condition of their leases. The decision […]