Daily Dose for June 23, 2008

TN Supreme Court One of the Least Influential

TN Supreme Court One of the Least Influential -- A recent study of legal decisions being used in other jurisdictions to guide jurisprudence, shows that TN has the fifth least influential court in offering legal guidance to other areas of the country. California had the most case decisions followed of the states in the study. Justices contend that is because of a combination of a diverse population, which is more likely to bring obscure issues to the legal forefront and because of the progressive nature of some of the cases when compared to the political make-up of TN.

Retrospective on TN General Assembly -- Tom Humphrey has a retrospective in today's KNS over each of the chambers of the General Assembly passing bills with no chance of success in the other chamber. The House passed 57 bills that failed in the Senate and the Senate passed 122 bills that failed in the House. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey chalks the high number of Senate bills that failed in the House to pent up Republican frustration being finally released after the GOP took control of the upper chamber. Speaker of the House Jimmy Naifeh says, however, that the House is now the more deliberative of the two bodies.

English First Driver for More Conservatives -- Nashville Councilman Eric Crafton is being accused of driving a petition to get English recognized as the only language in Metro of using the issue to drive fellow conservatives to the polls, even though he knows the measure will likely not pass constitutional muster. Crafton doesn't confirm or deny that theory, but has said there is nothing wrong with more conservatives voting in Nashville. Most political analysts, however, contend that even if the ballot drive is successful in getting the measure on the ballot, the conservatives driven to the polls may not vote for John McCain anyway. Crafton's group faces intense scrutiny over financial disclosures, which election officials say they don't have to file until they are successful in getting the measure on the ballot.

Healy to Run for Chattanooga Mayor -- Former City Parks and Recreation Director Rob Healy says he is going to run for Mayor of Chattanooga, if he can figure out whether he meets legal qualifications to run. Healy would have moved to the city more than a year before the election, but election attorneys say he needed to be a city resident by the qualifying deadline. Brook Thompson, the state election coordinator, has written City Attorney Randy Nelson asking him for an opinion on which date should apply. Healy would oppose Mayor Ron Littlefiled, who Healy says fired him.

Posted by Adam Groves | Email This |