Capitol Notes

Capitol Notes | Peggy Sue, the Beagle Hound

Be all the Dog you can be.

Davidson County Legislative

Delegation Newcomers. In State Senate District 19, Charlane Oliver will succeed Brenda Gilmore, who decided to not seek reelection. Senator Oliver’s election will not affect the partisan balance in the State Senate where the margin will continue to be 27 (R)’s to 6 (D)’s. In House District 52, Justin Jones will succeed Mike Stewart who decided not to seek reelection. In House District 59, a relatively new district created after Jason Potts decided not to seek reelection, Caleb Hemmer prevailed over Michelle Foreman in a hotly contested general election with 52.4% of the votes cast for a margin of around 1,400 votes. These races do not affect the partisan balance in the House, but the Republicans did pick up a seat in District 41 on the Cumberland Plateau to make their majority 74-25.

January Legislative Happenings.

The 113th General Assembly will convene on Tuesday, January 10 in the first day of the Organizational Session. Even though their terms begin on election day, all the members will be sworn into office on January 10, then, both the House and the Senate will adopt temporary rules and elect their leadership positions. House Speaker Cameron Sexton of Crossville and Senate Speaker Randy McNally are expected to be reelected to their positions without any opposition. As the Organizational Session moves along that week, the two Speakers will make their committee appointments. The legal beagles will watch closely to see who Speaker McNally appoints to chair the Senate Judiciary Committee which is our primary committee of jurisdiction in the Senate. On the House side, similar watchful eyes will await Speaker Sexton’s appointment of a Criminal Justice Committee chair. On January 21, Governor Bill Lee will be inaugurated for his second four-year term of office. His inauguration and oath conclude the Organizational Session, and the General Assembly will promptly begin the Regular Session with a recess for about a week to get the new members settled into their new offices. The Regular Session should be fully underway by January 30 with adjournment expected in late April or early May. All members may prefile bills for formal introduction on January 10. If SB 1 by Johnson / HB 1 by Lamberth dealing with medical care for the young is any indication, we are in for a spicy session.

Calendar Notes.

Take a moment to send a note to our outgoing elected state officials thanking them for their service. At the same time, it’s a good time to send a note or make a call to your new state legislators just to wish them well as they face the chaos of a typical legislative session.

State and NBA offices will be closed on Friday and Monday, December 23 and 26 for the Christmas holidays and Friday and Monday December 30 and January 2 for the New Year’s holiday.

State and NBA offices will be closed on Monday, January 16, 2023 for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday.

The most important election is the next one, and eyes will turn to the August 3, 2023 Nashville election for Mayor, Vice-Mayor, and the 40 Metropolitan Council positions. n

PEGGY SUE is fond of the classic 1957 Buddy Holly song. When hunting legislative news or biscuits, she is hard to contact.

passing reforms of their own. For example, Shelby County, Tennessee, reformed its bail bond system in August of 2022. Among other changes was the addition of a new bail hearing courtroom and requirement that cash bail will now come strictly as a last resort, and only after review of a person’s financial circumstances.

Sentencing Algorithms

Although algorithms designed for pre-trial use are far more common in the news, post-trial algorithms are also seeing use in the courts. Many advocates have pushed for data-driven sentencing reform, and even the American Law Institute recognized the value of actuarial instruments in sentencing in its 2017 final draft of “Model Penal Code: Sentencing.”

These algorithms face concerns similar to those found in pretrial. Using actuarial instruments for sentencing primarily occurs in criminal courts. Opponents believe that the use of sentencing algorithms potentially interfere with the defendant’s right to due process. It can be difficult to challenge the information inserted into the algorithm on the merits of accuracy, particularly when the design of an algorithm may be proprietary in nature. Most states choose to go with third-party companies rather than take the time to create algorithms for use in the courts, and these companies market their assessment tools like any other product. This leaves some judges and other professionals distrustful of their objectivity but without the ability to look further into the issue.

Introduction of VR

When people think of virtual reality (“VR”), most people imagine video games and the metaverse, both topics completely disconnected from the professional sphere. Like most new technologies, however, VR is beginning to branch out from its origins. Academics and industry alike are finding new and exciting uses for it.

For the legal community, this new technology can revolutionize how attorneys present evidence to jurors. What once required a site visit or grainy photos projected on monitors, jurors can now experience as a fully immersive experience. Particularly in cases where location matters, some legal teams are recording 3D models of important areas and combining them with VR headsets. This unique technology allows jurors to explore a place and obtain a fuller grasp of important facts in a case to help make informed choices. As one may imagine, this technology is still largely cost prohibitive and in its early stages, but in the future, it may become a powerful tool in high-stakes cases. Jurors in Tennessee and across the country may one day be able to interact with 3D models of complicated patents, see crime scenes in real time and in slow motion, or closely examine the procedure that led to a medical malpractice suit.

The examples above are only a few among many rapidly changing technologies impacting the practice of law in courts across the country. As members of the legal community, it is essential to stay abreast of new technologies as they become available, how they may be used in the practice of law, and the ramifications for their adoption. Regardless of practice area, technology is changing the way we move forward, and the legal industry faces an exciting future. n

KRISTIN THOMAS is a trial consultant and the owner of KT Trial Consulting and Information Designs, LLC. Assisting trial teams nationwide in a variety of practice areas, she specializes in jury messaging and strategy, litigation graphics, and the use of trial technology.

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