Free Republic

The Tennessee Supreme Court this morning refused to hear an appeal from Mary Winkler in her case involving a custody battle over her three children. The full court issued the denial without comment. Winkler, who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter for killing her preacher husband last year, is seeking to regain custody of her three young daughters who now live with her husband’s parents. Dan and Diane Winkler of Huntingdon, Tenn., are seeking to terminate Winkler’s parental rights and to gain permanent custody of the girls. Mary Winkler asked the state’s high court to intervene by ordering a Juvenile Court...

NASHVILLE — Gov. Phil Bredesen said he would rather the Supreme Court wait for the fifth and final justice to be appointed to the bench before selecting a new attorney general, but he acknowledged Wednesday that there was nothing he could to stop the high court from acting sooner. The selection of a new attorney general has already been delayed by a month because of a squabble between Bredesen and the state Judicial Selection Commission over the appointment needed to fill out the five-member Supreme Court. Public hearings with applicants for the eight-year appointment were rescheduled for next week, and...

In a groundbreaking ruling that appears to be a reversal of some three decades of legal precedent in Tennessee, the state Supreme Court has ruled that juveniles are not entitled to a jury trial. State Supreme Court Justice Cornelia A. Clark took just six pages to articulate the court's reasoning. The backdrop for the landmark decision was an aggravated robbery conviction lodged against a then 17-year-old Fulton High School student. Knox County Assistant Public Defender Bob Edwards, who represented Clinton Burns III in the case, said Wednesday he was disappointed in the high court's decision. "This is a complete reversal,"...

Knox County attorneys today asked the Tennessee Supreme Court to hear their appeal of a chancellor's decision to invalidate the charter. The motion asks the justices to intercede in the lawsuit of five county commissioners seeking to overturn term limits for public officials. Chancellor John Weaver last month ruled the charter was "invalid, incomplete and ineffective." In a separate opinion, he gave the county 180 days to amend its charter. Also last month, Senior U.S. District Court Judge James H. Jarvis used the power of his federal bench to ask the state Supreme Court to decide if the charter is...