In a precedent-setting, unanimous ruling, the Tennessee Court of Appeals has affirmed the first trial court judgment ever issued under the Tennessee Public Participation Act, Tennessee's recently enacted anti-SLAPP statute. The ruling establishes several critical precedents for free speech law in Tennessee, and it
In a thorough, 42-page opinion, Davidson County Chancellor Russell Perkins has ruled that the Davidson County Election Commission acted unlawfully when it set an election on a legally defective referendum opinion. "4GG's Petition . . . did not prescribe a date as required by Section 19.01;
On June 4, 2021, Horwitz Law, PLLC filed an amici curiae brief on behalf of clients the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and Tennesseans for Sensible Election Laws in Metropolitan Government, et al. v. Davidson County Election Commission, et al., Davidson County Chancery Court
Following a four-year effort to exonerate Joseph Webster for his wrongful conviction of a 1998 murder, the Davidson County District Attorney's Office has announced that it "no longer has confidence in the conviction of Mr. Webster" and recommends that "Mr. Webster's conviction be vacated
Federal District Court Judge Eli Richardson has formally approved a $1 million civil judgment in favor of Conese Halliburton against ex-NYPD Officer Michael Reynolds, who was convicted in 2019 of multiple crimes related to a racial slur-laden Nashville home invasion. After being sentenced to jail
In an order issued earlier this afternoon, Davidson County Chancery Court Judge Ellen Hobbs Lyle ruled in favor of Plaintiffs Amy Frogge, Fran Bush, and Jill Speering, who earlier this year sued Metro and ex-MNPS Director Shawn Joseph over the legality of the School Board censorship
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,
In a unanimous panel opinion, the Tennessee Court of Appeals has affirmed a ruling by Davidson County Chancery Court Judge Ellen Hobbs Lyle that two of Tennessee's campaign finance statutes unlawfully discriminate against non-partisan speakers and violate the First Amendment. As a result, the
The second-ever anti-SLAPP petition filed under the Tennessee Public Participation Act (TPPA)—Tennessee’s new anti-SLAPP statute—has officially been granted, accompanied by the largest fee-shifting award ($26,500.00) ever awarded in a defamation case filed in Tennessee. The final order—granted by Davidson County Circuit Court Judge Joe
In the last chapter of year-long saga, the dismissal of Déjà Vu Showgirls's SLAPP-suit against Linda Schipani—previously dismissed outright for failure to state any cognizable claim for relief—has been unanimously upheld by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Said Daniel Horwitz, Schipani’s attorney: “Deja