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Trio of suits against Hamilton County Sheriff allege violent attacks in jail
More than a year after the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office took over a privately-run detention center, violent attacks within the facility are continuing unabated, lawsuits filed this week allege. Three former detainees at the Silverdale Detention Center filed suit Monday in U.S. District Court against Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond and county government. In each […]
Court finds Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance guilty of contempt
A judge on Monday deemed the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance guilty of “willfully” violating a court order barring the collection of registration fees from nonpartisan political action committees. Senior Judge Thomas J. Wright ruled the state agency defied his injunction—issued in 2018 and upheld by the Tennessee Court of Appeals a year […]
Judge shoots down Knox County gum-chewing lawsuit
Parents of a Knox County high school freshman with a rare hearing disorder are seeking an emergency appeal after a federal judge refused to force the Board of Education to ban eating and gum chewing in classrooms, court records show. U.S. District Judge Katherine Crytzer on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the parents of […]
Suit alleges female detainees forced to put on “sex shows” in Grainger County Jail
Female detainees at the Grainger County Jail were forced to put on “sex shows” for a male correction officer, who climbed atop milk crates in a control room for a better view and masturbated, a proposed class-action lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Greeneville, Tenn., alleges former Grainger County Sheriff’s […]
Tennessee Health Department, TDEC, confirm toxic waste at Anderson County playground
State regulators have confirmed the presence of Tennessee Valley Authority radioactive coal ash waste at a playground in Anderson County — confirming the findings last year of a Duke University study that first revealed the threat to children playing there. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the Tennessee Department of Health issued a […]
OSHA officials admit to shredding documents in Tennessee Valley Authority coal ash case
For two months, teams of workers had been toiling around the clock to clean up a colossal spill of toxic coal ash unleashed in East Tennessee when a containment wall buckled, loosing millions of tons of the sludge across the landscape. They were working unprotected, secure in the knowledge they were safe because the Tennessee […]
Knox County taxpayers off the hook for bill from San Francisco law firm
Knox County taxpayers were at risk of footing the legal bills of a San Francisco law firm their elected leaders didn’t hire or approve to fight a judicial mask mandate their own government is already fighting on their dime — until the Tennessee Lookout asked their mayor about it. The Tennessee Lookout on Thursday morning […]
Tennessee court strikes conviction of former DCS worker who solicited teen for sex
A Tennessee appellate court has struck down the conviction of a former foster parent and Department of Children’s Services case worker who propositioned a teenager for sex and got robbed instead. Jeremiah McDaniel was entrusted with the protection of children through both his job as a social worker for DCS and as a foster parent […]
Federal judge in Tennessee dismisses suits on behalf of Gatlinburg wildfire victims
A federal judge has dismissed a slew of lawsuits filed on behalf of hundreds of victims of a deadly wildfire that swept through Gatlinburg more than five years ago. U.S. District Court Judge Ronnie Greer says the wildfire victims failed in preliminary claim forms to warn the National Park Service that they intended to accuse […]
Knoxville hospital uses COVID as liability shield for suit over fatal medical mistake
A Knoxville hospital is trying to use the COVID-19 pandemic to shield itself from liability for a nurse’s fatal medication administration mistake, court records show. Sonny Caldwell was being treated for various conditions, including COVID-19, while he was a patient at the Turkey Creek Medical Center in October 2020, but an investigation by the Knox […]
Tennessee Supreme Court denies appeal in 2007 Knox County torture slayings
The Tennessee Supreme Court this week shot down an appeal bid by the fifth and final suspect to be convicted in the 2007 torture slayings of a Knox County couple. The high court’s decision–made public late Monday–to deny Eric Boyd another appeal of his convictions effectively ends what was a 12-year quest by the families […]
City of Knoxville forcing Netflix, Hulu fee case to Tennessee Supreme Court
The City of Knoxville is leading an effort in Tennessee to use the judicial system to try to force video streaming providers Netflix and Hulu to pay local governments the same operational fees assessed to cable television firms, court records show. If the city’s proposed class-action lawsuit is successful, it could impact both the pricing […]