Should contempt proceedings have a right to counsel?

Very interesting article today in the New York Times. Having done numerous Criminal contempt cases for child support violations, I can attest to the difference having an attorney makes. I can't even count the number of times I have seen someone try to fight a contempt petition pro se and get themselves in trouble just by not knowing proper courtroom etiquette. However, I have also seen judges in Davidson County obtain appointed counsel for indigent citizens facing criminal time in a contempt case, particularly with back child support. Regardless, the article is a good read whether you are a Nashville family lawyer or just interested in child support.

The New York Times article can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/us/24scotus.html?_r=1&src=twrhp

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TN Changing Driver's Licenses

Tennessee has begun phasing in new driver's licenses designed to prevent fraud. The IDs contain a new hologram and a barcode.

Full article available HERE from the Tennessean.
Photo from the Tennessean.

TN Supreme Court to look at alimony

The Tennessee Supreme Court is about to delve into family law and take a look at lifetime alimony payments, so good Nashville Divorce attorneys better pay attention.

At issue, a 43 year old woman who had been married 21 years way awarded a lifetime alimony payment on appeal from her divorce, which took place in Sumner County.

For more information, click HERE for the article in today's Tennessean or cut and paste the following link:

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110310/NEWS03/110310010/2066/NEWS03/TN-Supreme-Court-considers-change-alimony-payments-

- Morgan Smith, Attorney, www.lawonyourschedule.com

Tsunami in Japan, How You Can Help

Today, an 8.9 earthquake hit Japan and released a horrifying tsunami on the island nation. If you are looking for ways to help, check out this CNN article. It lists several options for helping.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/11/tsunami-aid-and-relief-how-you-can-help/

Attorney/Client calls recorded and disclosed to other members of the Bar

An interesting article was in the Tennessean yesterday. Previously, criminal attorneys in Nashville were told calls between clients and attorneys from prisons in Davidson County were not recorded. This was the policy of the Davidson County Sheriff's Office. The calls are often still monitored (checking for illegal activity) but many times important issues were discussed over the phone in order to save the client, or in the case of appointed attorneys, the state of Tennessee the additional costs of the attorney having to go down to the jail every time something comes up.

However, per the Tennessean article, "the Davidson County Sheriff's Office gave hundreds of recorded phone calls between inmates and their attorneys to federal prosecutors, who shared the recordings with dozens of lawyers representing defendants in a sex-trafficking case." The CDs with the information included not just attorney-client communications from those charged in the sex-trafficking case, but also multiple other attorney-client phone calls from other. non-related federal cases. U.S. District Court Judge William J. Haynes Jr. will rule on the matter as some of the defense attorneys are hesitant to return the CDs containing the recorded conversations because the information on the CDs may help their clients.

It will be interesting to see how Judge Haynes rules. If he decides the information is privileged, the CD's should be returned. If he rules the information is not privileged since it was from a jail phone, then attorneys will have to change their policies regarding communications with their clients which will greatly increase costs to clients and the State.

You can read the full article here.

Egypt raises questions about potential US legislation

After the Egyptian government terminated the internet as a means to limit the organizational abilities of protesters (if you aren't aware of the protests going on, check out this CNN article), people are focusing more on the proposed "Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act." Is internet access a protected right, perhaps included in the Constitution with the freedom of the press?

It will be interesting to see how the debate pans out. Other countries already consider internet access a constitutional right, such as France, Israel and Finland. As early as 2003 the UN proposed internet access as a human right. Perhaps access to the web will become a part of international law in the future as constitutional amendments become more prevalent.

For an article in PCMag about Egypt pulling the internet switch and our proposed legislation, click here for the piece by Dan Costa.

New Governor Bill Haslam is already making changes to TN Law.

It looks like new Governor Bill Haslam is already changing things up for local attorneys in Nashville. Governor Haslam has removed the private financial transparency requirement for himself and his staff and has put other executive orders into effect, including a new order for more transparency in our state government and expanded on the current discrimination laws for state government hiring to prohibit discrimination in hiring on the basis of race, gender, national origin, religion, age, political affiliation or disabilities. It is important to note this list still excludes sexual orientation.

You can read more about the changes the Governor has made this weekend in the Tennessean.

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