A “Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation” (a SLAPP-suit) filed by Jonathan Gilbert—a Smyrna auto mechanic—against Horwitz Law, PLLC client Daylan Langford is now dismissed with prejudice under the Tennessee Public Participation Act, the Circuit Court for Rutherford County, Tennessee has ruled. The court also
By Daniel A. Horwitz: Defending Criminal Contempt Cases in Tennessee[1] Under Tennessee law, courts may punish a person’s contempt of a court order as a criminal offense. Courts’ criminal contempt authority “is designed to preserve the power and vindicate the dignity and authority of the
By Daniel A. Horwitz: I. Introduction[1] In 2016, Tennessee enacted a new law criminalizing the “unlawful exposure” of certain sexually explicit, private images: a form of sexual abuse commonly known as “revenge porn.”[2] Tennessee’s “unlawful exposure” law supplemented a pre-existing criminal statute that prohibited
Beginning in January 2024, the City of Lakeland, Tennessee began fining Horwitz Law, PLLC client Julie Pereira for her political yard sign reading: "Fuck 'Em Both 2024." In response, Ms. Pereira filed suit, asserting that the City of Lakeland's enforcement action violated her First
By Daniel A. Horwitz: “[E]ffective July 1, 2024,” Tennessee has a new set of rules for filing amicus briefs in appellate cases. The new rules apply to amicus briefs filed in the Tennessee Supreme Court, the Tennessee Court of Appeals, and the Tennessee Court
In a unanimous panel opinion issued on August 12, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ordered that Horwitz Law, PLLC appellate client Kenneth Mynatt's malicious prosecution and civil conspiracy claims against the United States—maintained under the Federal Tort Claims
The Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance, Registry of Election Finance “is in contempt of court,” a senior Chancery Court judge has found. The finding arose from the Registry’s willful collection of $64,000.00 in PAC fees in violation of a permanent injunction prohibiting
In an opinion issued September 28, 2021, the Tennessee Court of Appeals has ordered that Horwitz Law, PLLC appellate client Kenneth Mynatt's malicious prosecution and civil conspiracy claims be reinstated. The Court's unanimous ruling, authored by Judge Thomas R. Frierson, explains that the retirement
A Davidson County Circuit Court judge has ordered approval of a $304,000.00 settlement award arising from a May 2020 dog attack in Madison. The $304,000.00 award is among the largest—if not the largest—recoveries ever obtained in a dog bite case in Tennessee that did not
In a resounding win for free speech, Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle has issued an order striking down Tennessee's criminal defamation law prohibiting false "campaign literature in opposition to any candidate in any election." Finding that the law represented an unlawful content-based, viewpoint-based,