Pervis Payne must serve life sentences one after the other, state supreme court rules
Pervis Payne, 58, was convicted in 1988 of stabbing to death Charisse Christopher, 28, and her 2-year-old daughter, Lacie.
Topic: Tennessee Supreme Court
RSSThere are 31 article(s) tagged Tennessee Supreme Court:
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June 2025
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May 2025
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Memphis’ rape-kit suit effectively over
The Tennessee Supreme Court has allowed to stand a lower court ruling which effectively dismissed Janet Doe’s claims against the city.
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September 2024
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Fewer firsts: Female judges talk diminishing gender gap
When Judge Carolyn Wade Blackett first took the bench 30 years ago, she said it was “strange” to be one of only a few women. At her first judicial conference, colleagues mistook her for hotel staff.
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June 2024
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State Supreme Court rules against Henri Brooks in adoption scandal suit
The Shelby County commissioner sued the state after learning, at age 72, that she was among the children adopted through the old Tennessee Children’s Home Society led by Georgia Tann.
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May 2024
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Meet Mary Wagner, newest face on Tennessee Supreme Court
Her appointment to the state’s highest court marks the apex of a 15-year legal career that she’s been working toward since childhood.
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March 2024
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Local judge’s appointment to state supreme court confirmed
Shelby County Circuit Court Division 7 Judge Mary Wagner, who was appointed to the court last month, was confirmed with a majority vote in the state House and a unanimous vote in the Senate.
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February 2024
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Memphis Judge Mary Wagner appointed to Tennessee Supreme Court
Gov. Bill Lee has now appointed a majority of the Tennessee Supreme Court’s justices.
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January 2024
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Retired Tennessee Supreme Court Justice to mediate Freeman civil suit
The first woman to lead the state’s highest court will oversee negotiations between lawyers for Nicole Freeman and Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr., Chief Jailer Kirk Fields and Shelby County government.
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November 2023
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Law license reinstated for ADA who pleaded guilty to DUI
An assistant district attorney who pleaded guilty to driving under the influence has had her law license reinstated.
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September 2023
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Native Memphian appointed to lead Tennessee’s highest court
The court selected Holly Kirby to serve in the role for a two-year term, effective Sept. 1, the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts announced Aug. 31.
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January 2023
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Portrait unveiled for first female Tennessee Supreme Court chief justice
Prior to her 1996 appointment to the Tennessee Supreme Court, Justice Janice Holder was elected to Division II of the Circuit Court of Tennessee for the 30th Judicial District in Memphis in 1990.
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November 2022
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State Supreme Court: Mandatory life sentences for juveniles ‘cruel and unusual punishment’
“Not so long ago, it was commonplace for states to require juveniles convicted of homicide to serve sentences of over fifty years. Now, that practice has vanished. ... In the entirety of the nation, Tennessee stands alone.”
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June 2022
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Free legal clinic on wheels launches for TN clients
The Tennessee Supreme Court has launched a free legal clinic on wheels called the Justice Bus. The blue sprinter van will mostly travel to rural areas where residents may not have internet access.
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May 2022
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Conaway: Your money just got religion
The Tennessee Supreme Court recently approved the Education Savings Account Act. You say education savings accounts, I say vouchers. You say tomato, I say tomato. Rotten tomato.
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Supreme Court approves school vouchers for Shelby, Davidson counties
The law will allow families in Shelby and Davidson counties to send their children to private school with taxpayer dollars. The court’s ruling represents a major victory for Gov. Bill Lee and the school choice movement.
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February 2022
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Voucher law that applies only to Shelby County and Nashville returns to TN Supreme Court
“We are primarily arguing that this is an infringement on the counties’ sovereignty,” former Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper said on behalf of MSCS and MNPS.
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Lee’s state Supreme Court appointee recuses in school voucher case
In her recusal, Sarah Campbell cited a rule that says, “A judge shall disqualify himself or herself in any proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”
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November 2020
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Tennessee takes overturned school voucher law to state’s highest court
Metro Nashville and Shelby County challenged the law because it applies only to their communities without giving their local governments or voters a say.
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Tennessee Supreme Court suspends jury trials until next year
The Tennessee Supreme Court has suspended all jury trials in the state because of a surge in COVID-19 cases. Trials are suspended Nov. 23 through Jan. 31.
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September 2020
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Attorneys for Pervis Payne seek to stop execution; claim he’s intellectually disabled
The Shelby County man, convicted in the 1987 slayings of a Millington woman and her young daughter, is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 3.
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August 2020
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State Supreme Court OKs absentee August votes, but limits absentee for November
On the eve of election day, the state's highest court rules the expanded access to absentee ballots for the August elections means all of those votes will be counted. But for November, absentee ballots will not be open to all who have general concerns for their health if they vote in person instead of by mail. There was a dissenting opinion on the court.
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July 2020
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State Supreme Court weighs expansion of absentee voting
The state's highest court heard the state's appeal of the recent expansion of mail-in absentee voting ordered last month by a Nashville Chancery Court. The state says absentee ballots are a privilege and not a right. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit argue that in the current pandemic, in-person voting is a choice for voters between their health and their right to vote.
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May 2020
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Homeless ranks will grow when renters are evicted
If America wants to contain the coronavirus, it is necessary to avoid creating a revolving door of aggravating conditions, such as homelessness. Displacing renters amid the coronavirus outbreak could intensify the transmission of the disease.
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March 2020
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State supreme court extends court closures until April 30
The Tennessee Supreme Court extended the suspension of all court cases until April 30 and has ordered judges and law enforcement to work together on a plan to get vulnerable inmates released from jail.
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Emergency state Supreme Court petition seeks inmate releases
An emergency petition filed with the Tennessee Supreme Court seeks the release of numbers of inmates from local jails and prisons as COVID-19 outbreaks begin to appear across the state.
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