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Associated Press
6 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Tennessee court upholds law from Republican legislators to cut blue Nashville's council in half
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee appeals court on Tuesday upheld the constitutionality of a law passed by the state's Republican-controlled legislature to punish the Democratic-leaning city of Nashville by slashing the size of its council. The 2023 law aims to cut Nashville's consolidated city-county governing council in half, from 40 members to 20. Although it was written to apply broadly statewide to both city and consolidated city-county governments, Nashville is the only Tennessee city meeting that definition with a council of more than 20 members. The law was one of several targeting Nashville after the council's rejection of efforts to host the 2024 Republican National Convention in Music City. The Tennessee Court of Appeals 2-1 ruling on Tuesday overturns an earlier split decision by a panel of judges at the trial court level that ruled in favor of the city. The law has been on hold pending appeals. Nashville attorneys argued that the law is unconstitutional because a provision of the Tennessee Constitution that limits local legislative bodies to 25 members explicitly exempts municipalities organized under a consolidated city-county government. The city also argued the law violates another section of the Tennessee Constitution known as the Home Rule Amendment that prevents the General Assembly from making laws that apply to a single county or municipality. In ruling against the city, the majority wrote that nothing in the Constitution explicitly prevents the General Assembly from 'imposing its own limit on the voting membership of a metropolitan council.' Given the fact that the judges must start from the assumption that state statutes are constitutional 'we cannot condone interpreting the Tennessee Constitution's silence such that the legislature's power is curtailed in this manner.' In his dissent, Judge Kenny Armstrong argued his colleagues are misinterpreting the word 'exempt.' 'While the Article contains no language to enjoin the General Assembly from limiting Metro's legislative body to any number over 25, the Article clearly precludes the General Assembly from limiting Metro's membership to any number less than 25,' he wrote. Armstrong did not address the Home Rule Amendment. The majority there found that even though Nashville is the only city that the law actually effects, it was written as a law of general application. Nashville has been mostly successful in challenging some of the other state laws taking aim at the city, although many of the cases are still in appeals. In one, a judicial panel ruled the state cannot enforce a law making it easier to pass changes through the metro council to the local fairgrounds speedway, which is being considered for upgrades in hopes of drawing a NASCAR race. A court panel likewise ruled it was unconstitutional for Tennessee lawmakers to pass a state takeover of Nashville International Airport's board. Judges also temporarily blocked a law that would reconfigure the group overseeing professional sports facilities in Nashville by letting state leaders pick six of its 13 board members. Republcan House Majority Leader William Lamberth issued a statement on Tuesday praising the court's ruling on the size of Nashville's council. 'I applaud the court's decision today affirming the constitutionality of the Small Government Efficiency Act. This action reins in excessive government growth while ensuring local municipalities across the Volunteer State remain accountable and responsive to their constituents,' he wrote. Nashville Vice Mayor Angie E. Henderson said in a statement that the decision fails to respect the will of Nashville voters, who created a 'highly representative, local legislative branch.' Henderson said they will discuss next steps with the city's attorneys.
Associated Press
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
North Carolina court says it's OK to swap jurors while they are deliberating
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina's highest court on Friday left intact a murder conviction that a lower appeals court had thrown out on the grounds that a jury shake-up during deliberations violated the defendant's rights and required a new trial. By a 5-2 decision, the state Supreme Court reversed last year's decision of a state Court of Appeals panel that had sided with Eric Ramond Chambers, who has been serving a sentence of life in prison without parole. The state constitution says no one can be convicted of a crime except by 'the unanimous verdict of a jury in open court' that state justices have declared in the past repeatedly must be composed of 12 people. A 2021 state law says an alternate juror can be substituted for one of the 12 after deliberations begin as long as the judge instructs the amended jury to begin deliberations anew. The judge at Chambers' 2022 trial did just that when an alternate juror joined deliberations because an original juror couldn't continue the next day due to a medical appointment. The original 12 had deliberated for less than 30 minutes the day before. Chambers, who was representing himself in the trial, was not in the courtroom when the substitution occurred. By midday the reconstituted jury had reached a verdict, and Chambers was convicted of first-degree murder and a serious assault charge for the 2018 shooting in a Raleigh motel room. Chambers petitioned the Court of Appeals, which later ruled that his right to a 'properly constituted jury' had been violated and the 2021 law couldn't supersede the state constitution because 13 people had reached the verdict. State attorneys then appealed. Writing for Friday's majority, Chief Justice Paul Newby said the 2021 law doesn't violate Chamber's right because it provides 'critical safeguards that ensure that the twelve-juror threshold remains sacrosanct.' Newby wrote the law says no more than 12 jurors can participate in the jury's deliberations and that a judge's instruction to begin deliberations anew means 'any discussion in which the excused juror participated is disregarded and entirely new deliberations are commenced by the newly-constituted twelve.' The four other justices who are registered Republicans joined Newby in his opinion. In a dissenting opinion to retain the new trial, Associate Justice Allison Riggs wrote the 2021 law is an unconstitutional departure from the concept of 12-member juries and 'endangers the impartiality and unanimity of the jury.' No matter what directions a trial judge gives to jurors to begin deliberations anew, Riggs added, 'we must assume by law that the original juror's mere presence impacted the verdict.' Associate Justice Anita Earls — who with Riggs are the court's two registered Democrats — also dissented.
CBS News
21-05-2025
- CBS News
Ruling removes evidence from prosecution plan in case against Derrick Thompson
Ruling removes evidence from prosecution plan in case against Derrick Thompson Ruling removes evidence from prosecution plan in case against Derrick Thompson Ruling removes evidence from prosecution plan in case against Derrick Thompson A major roadblock Tuesday in the high-profile murder case against a former state lawmaker's son. According to a criminal complaint, a driver sped off of Interstate 35W at the Lake Street exit in June 2023, ran a red light and slammed into a car, killing all five people inside. The driver was arrested nearby and later identified as Derrick Thompson. Thompson was found guilty of one count of possessing fentanyl with intent to distribute, one count of possessing a firearm as a felon and one count of carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota. Next week, Thompson will face state charges of criminal vehicular homicide and third-degree murder. But a legal win for the defense handed down Monday, just one week before the state trial begins. In a 19-page opinion, the Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld the district court's "decision to deny the state's motion to admit evidence of the California incident." In 2018, Thompson was convicted of fleeing from police in Santa Barbara at high speeds before striking a pedestrian and taking off. The complaint in that case states a woman was left with life-changing injuries. State prosecutors were hoping to show a similarity between the California crash and the Lake Street crash. In 2020, Thompson pleaded guilty to three felony charges and was sentenced to 8 years in prison. He was released after 3 years. That same year, investigators say surveillance video from MSP Airport shows Thompson renting the SUV involved in the Minneapolis crash, less than a half hour before the crash. In a statement, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office says, "We're confident that the admissible evidence will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Thompson is guilty." The jury trial is set to begin May 27. Thompson is facing several counts of third-degree murder and criminal vehicular homicide for each of the five young women killed in the crash.
The Independent
09-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter dead at age 85
Justice David Souter, a quiet and iconoclastic jurist who spent nearly two decades on the United States Supreme Court from 1990 to 2009, has died at age 85. In a statement, Chief Justice John Roberts praised his late colleague as having 'served our Court with great distinction for nearly twenty years' and said the Granite State resident had 'brought uncommon wisdom and kindness to a lifetime of public service.' Roberts also praised Souter for spending roughly 10 years of retirement as a part-time judge on the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and said his former colleague would be 'greatly missed.'
CBS News
09-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
David Souter, retired Supreme Court justice, dies at age 85
Washington — Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter, who was a steady member of the high court's liberal wing during his tenure despite being appointed by a Republican president, died Thursday. He was 85. The Supreme Court said Souter "died peacefully" at his home. "Justice David Souter served our court with great distinction for nearly twenty years. He brought uncommon wisdom and kindness to a lifetime of public service," Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement. "After retiring to his beloved New Hampshire in 2009, he continued to render significant service to our branch by sitting regularly on the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit for more than a decade. He will be greatly missed." U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice David Souter leaves after speaking at Georgetown University Law Center on May 20, 2009, in Washington, is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
