A recent Brentwood Homepage article provides good insight into the current “criminal mentality” of drinking and driving laws. “DUIs in Williamson County: Read and heed” is an interview with Asst. District Attorney Carlin Hess. “Do not drive drunk in Williamson County” is sound advice, as it is in any jurisdiction. However, the combination of the “strict
In 2002, the State of Tennessee condemned a strip of land and a 625 square-foot building from its owners, the Meeks. The state offered the Meeks $30,550, which they could have accepted while keeping the remainder of their 1/3 acre lot. However, property owners in condemnation cases have a right to have a jury determine
The Unconstitutional Conditions Doctrine advances the rights granted by the Constitution by preventing the government from coercing people into giving them up. Recently, in Williamson County Circuit Court, a Nashville attorney argued that the request for a blood sample following a traffic stop of a driver suspected of DUI presented an Unconstitutional Conditions issue on
On October 1, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States heard a California case in which the police stopped a car—and ultimately arrested and charged its occupants for drug crimes—based on an anonymous tip of erratic driving called into dispatch. The California trial court found that the 911 call by a driver complaining of
Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements are common for couples that have been previously married, particularly if either or both have children from their prior relationships. Some agreements are intended to protect specific assets from the claims of the other party in the event of a divorce and/or death. Other agreements are broader and provide that each
I am often surprised by what questions new clients ask–and what they don’t ask. Most clients want to tell their story – what has happened to them and how they ended up needing a divorce attorney – and this is good. Clients need to give their attorney some background and factual information. And they need
“Cyberbullying” is described on Wikipedia as the “use of the Internet and related technologies to harm” another person “in a deliberate, repeated and hostile manner.” In Tennessee, if a cyberbully is charged with a crime, it is usually criminal harassment. While some states have adopted specific cyberstalking and internet harassment laws, the Tennessee General Assembly
After years of uncertainly and even anticipation regarding how Congress would handle federal estate taxes, the American Taxpayer Relief Act was remarkably a “non-event.” The Act essentially extended, or made “permanent” (with one notable exception for very wealthy people), the rules and exemptions for estate, gift and generation skipping transfer taxes that were established in
If you have ever lost and found your mobile phone by using a GPS locator, such as Find My Iphone, you are aware that these devices can be tracked by satellite. The convenience of this technology also means that others, including the police, can track cell phones. And if your phone is with you, they
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the ‘right of the people to keep and bear arms‘ and many states, including Tennessee, have similar provisions is their constitutions. However, an individual’s right to possess and/or carry a firearm is not absolute and is subject to limitations where there is a sufficient governmental