Author
Federal appeals court reinstates civil rights lawsuit over anal cavity search by Memphis PD
A federal appellate court is giving a man who was subjected to an anal cavity search by a Memphis police officer without cause and against department regulations a chance to prove the agency slow-walked an investigation into the incident to avoid a lawsuit. A divided panel of the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals this […]
Nashville fire department veteran staffer accuses chief of discrimination, retaliation
A 30-year veteran of the Nashville Fire Department says in a newly-filed lawsuit she was forced to submit to drug testing and suspended for five days after she publicly accused the agency of age and sex discrimination. Maggie Lawrence, 64, has filed a civil-rights lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Nashville against her employers at […]
Feds to settle suit over 2018 Tennessee slaughterhouse raid targeting Latino workers
A settlement is in the works in a lawsuit filed by Latino workers at a Grainger County slaughterhouse who were arrested without proof of wrongdoing in a controversial raid authorized by the U.S. government. U.S. District Judge Travis McDonough has issued a stay in the class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of Latino workers at the […]
Civil rights conviction sends East Tennessee cop to prison
An East Tennessee law enforcer who bragged about the “tune-up gloves” he wore when beating suspects to remind them “who the boss was” and shouted “I’m not sorry for what I’ve done” when a judge convicted him of civil-rights abuses is headed to federal prison. U.S. District Judge Travis McDonough on Aug. 26 sentenced Anthony […]
Asian American groups urge rejection of nominee for U.S. Attorney in Tennessee’s Eastern District
Advocacy groups across the nation are calling on the Biden administration and the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject the nomination of Casey Arrowood for U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Tennessee. The Biden administration in August nominated Arrowood for the top job at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Knoxville despite his role in the […]
Tennessee Valley Authority loses tree-cutting fight in 6th Circuit
A federal appellate court says the Tennessee Valley Authority cannot escape a judicial injunction by slapping a new name on an old — and controversial — tree-cutting policy. The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is reinstating an injunction that barred TVA from carrying out its “15-foot rule,” a controversial policy that allowed the utility […]
Tennessee judge must turn trial recordings over to convicted killer
A state appellate court is ordering an East Tennessee judge to turn over trial audio recordings he’s kept locked away in his office in a bid to keep the convicted killer he sent to prison from obtaining a copy. In a first of its kind ruling, the Tennessee Court of Appeals says in a decision […]
Tennessee man who fired shots on federal building dies after “medical episode” in jail
A Tennessee man jailed pending trial on charges he fired on a federal building in Knoxville as part of his “war” on government agencies has died, court records show. Assistant Federal Defender Sarah Olesiuk has filed notice in U.S. District Court in Knoxville that Mark Thomas Reno died Aug. 15 at the Ephraim McDowell Regional […]
Video confirms abuse of immigrants by federal agents in East Tennessee slaughterhouse raid
Video obtained by the Tennessee Lookout confirms that a U.S. Department of Homeland Security agent stepped on the neck of a Grainger County slaughterhouse worker who was facedown on the floor with another agent on his back during a controversial raid in April 2018. Additional videos and depositions obtained also show that federal agents seized, […]
Tennessee Supreme Court revives home business lawsuit
The Tennessee Supreme Court on Thursday revived a lawsuit by Nashville music producer Lij Shaw and beauty salon owner Patricia Raynor challenging Metro Council’s restrictions on their home-based businesses. A lower court had tossed the suit after city leaders tweaked an ordinance that had effectively shut down Shaw’s home-based recording studio and Raynor’s in-home salon […]
Judge rules to unseal videos in 2018 Tennessee slaughterhouse raid
A federal magistrate judge says the public has a right to see a video that purportedly shows an agent of the U.S. government engaged in excessive force in a raid at a Grainger County slaughterhouse. U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher Steger has shot down a bid by attorneys for a slew of federal agents to keep […]
Tennessee court rules Confederate memorabilia in jury room not prejudicial
A Tennessee appellate court says there’s nothing “inherently prejudicial” in grand jurors and jurors deliberating the fates of Black people from inside the “Confederate jury room” — where the walls are adorned with a Confederate flag, portraits of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Confederate Gen. John C. Brown, and other Confederacy memorabilia — in a […]