I haven't read the story, yet, but thought everyone should be made aware of it. It's written by Jamie Satterfield, and is already drawing all those crazy people over there on the KNS site. Why do they let those people even have computers?

Link...

Chief U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier today issued a ruling barring Knoxville attorney Herbert S. Moncier from practicing law in any federal court in the Eastern District of Tennessee.

Collier also reprimanded Moncier for remarks made about "opposing counsel."

Herb Moncier has been banned from practicing in Tennessee Eastern District federal courts for five years. Seems a little harsh to me.

UPDATE: Katie at KT has some interesting analysis, and the KNS has this detailed report.

Unless the Tennessee General Assembly takes action before the end of this legislative session to preserve the Tennessee Plan, the state could lose the unique arrangement that helps assure the quality and independence of the highest courts in Tennessee's judicial system.

Some 30 years ago, Tennessee adopted a major reform in the selection of judges, called the "Tennessee Plan." Under this arrangement, state appellate judges are no longer elected by the people. Instead, judges for the Supreme Court and other appeals courts are initially selected by the governor from candidates recommended on the basis of merit, but sitting judges periodically are subject to retention votes in which people vote "yes" or "no" on the retention of each judge.

Judge selection and retention under the Tennessee Plan is a bewildering process for citizens, but it has been successful in depoliticizing the state's judiciary. Today I learned that the Tennessee Plan is subject to a sunset law -- the two commissions that make the process work are scheduled to "sunset" on July 1 unless the legislature acts to continue their existence. Two sets of bills to continue the Judicial Selection Commission (which makes recommendations on candidates for judgeships) and Judicial Evaluation Commission (which evaluates the performance of each sitting judge and publishes its findings before a retention election is held) have been introduced in the General Assembly, where they are awaiting consideration by the House and Senate Government Operations committees. HB2141/SB2013 (introduced last year) would extend both sunset dates until 2014, and the combination of HB3216/SB2432 and HB3225/SB2433 (introduced this year) would keep the commissions around until 2012.

The Tennessee Plan has its opponents, who say that it takes power away from the public and gives it to lawyers' organizations. That's effective rhetoric, but the fact of the matter is that in other states the selection of judges by popular vote results in selections based on money, ideology, and campaign promises, not on legal ability and impartiality.

To protect the independence of our judiciary, the Tennessee Plan shouldn't be allowed to quietly disappear.

Chancellor Fansler will rule on Knox County's motion for summary judgment on Tuesday, August 14th, at 9:30 a.m. in the Jack McElroy open meetings lawsuit. As you may know, the Law Director and the commission majority argue that no violation can occur in the absence of group large enough to constitute a quorum, and further that the subsequent votes make moot the suit. I disagree.

--Mark Harmon

Stacey X has introduced "loser pays" bill (PDF format) for civil cases. This is backdoor "tort reform" designed to protect Corporate Goliath from Victim David and his contingency lawyer.

This is a horrific situation to be in. Here is more.  Hopefully we can all help out.

Gene Patterson has a post on his blog reporting that Betty Bean will have a three part series in the Halls Shopper News about the life and times of Tyler Harber.

Patterson writes that Tyler Harber "never worked a single case while employed by Knox County’s Office of Probation and Pre-Trial Release. He worked exclusively for Ragsdale. He called himself "Ragsdale’s body man.""

Is this a case for the Knox County District Attorney? Should Mayor Mike Ragsdale have to pay back Knox County for Tyler Harber's salary? How much did Harber make in his Knox County job?

More on this story on Gene Patterson's Sunday talk show "Tennessee This Week" on WATE television and on Lloyd Daughtery's radio program "The Voice" on AM 1180 on Monday morning. Betty Bean and Frank Cagle will be on the air with Lloyd Daughtery Monday discussing the interesting life of Tyler Harber and the politicians he worked for.

Several things are clear in the saga of the Knox County charter. The charter was never submitted to the state for ratification, as required by state law and the charter itself. Documents pertaining to the term limits referendum were similarly mishandled, with the full and original text apparently lost.

The intent of Knox County voters is also quite clear. They want a home rule government and term-limited office holders. What is not clear is whether anyone is representing the interests of the voters. (read more...)

From today's Knoxville News Sentinel editorial:

Gov. Phil Bredesen's naming of Gary Wade for a seat on the Tennessee Supreme Court provides the high court with someone who has the personal integrity and judicial experience needed for this important position.

[..]

In naming Wade to the Supreme Court, Bredesen in a statement mentioned Wade's reputation "for fairness and consistency, his strong commitment to the law and his dedication to the faithful dispensation of justice."

Those characteristics will serve Wade well on the high court, but in a larger sense, they will serve Tennesseans through the many cases and deliberations that will face the court in the years ahead.

Betty Bean in yesterday's Halls Shopper:

A couple of weeks ago, we told you how a Nashville TV station was attempting to “Swiftboat” Gary Wade’s bid to be named to the state Supreme Court. Obviously, Gov. Phil Bredesen wasn’t impressed with WSMV-TV’s sensationalist attacks, since he named Wade to the state’s highest court this week.

Wade, 58, who has served on the state Court of Criminal Appeals since 1988 and has been presiding judge of that body since 1998, is a Sevierville native who has long been considered the East Tennessee Democrat with the most promising political prospects.

He’s smart, hard-working, honest and not bad looking.

The Mountain Press:

The Tennessee Supreme Court will be well-served by the addition of Sevierville's Gary Wade. But that's not just an isolated opinion. People across this state, from justices to circuit judges to business people to heads of nonprofits to educators, agree with that. Perhaps that's why Gov. Phil Bredesen chose Wade from among three nominees for a vacancy on the court.

[..]

To have Gary Wade as one of this state's five Supreme Court justices is an important milestone for a county better known for amusements than leadership. Congratulations to a most worthy Sevier County resident.

Sounds like universal agreement that Wade is a good pick for the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Call me crazy, but if I were Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, I wouldn’t be all that anxious to get a judge to dismiss the suit that Barry Bonds had filed trying stop the collection of profits for the book Game of Shadows (web site).

A judge in San Francisco almost did that this week.

The book details the steroid use of the San Francisco Giants superstar. It tells how Bonds began using steroids after the 1998 seasons to pump himself up and to start – at the twilight of what was probably a Hall of Fame career – putting up monster numbers, especially in the home run category.

The book was painstakingly research by Fainaru-Wada and Williams, two reporters for the San Francisco Chronicle. They conducted dozens of interviews, heard audio tapes, and read hundreds of documents. Some of those documents were grand jury testimony that was supposed to remain secret.

Bonds has not denied the allegations specifically. Instead, he has refused to talk about it. Now he has had his lawyers file suit to stop the authors and publishers from collecting any profits on the book. Why? It’s a novel legal argument that the profits are illegal because some of the documents used in the book were obtained illegally (a somewhat questionable assertion in itself).

That argument has the strength of a piece of cellophane in a hurricane.

This week a judge in San Francisco recognized it as such as refused to grant an injunction against the defendants based on it. He even said the suit had little chance of success. But he didn’t dismiss it.

And that may be a victory for the authors.

If they are forced to defend themselves against the suit, they would probably be able to depose Bonds himself. That would be a reporter’s dream – a major source have to answer questions UNDER OATH.

Man, don’t you know they have a question or two for the slugger.

But, unfortunately, it probably won’t happen. Some judge will do the right thing and throw the suit out as a waste of everybody’s time.

That’s too bad. The thought of Barry Bonds having to tell the truth in the presence of a couple of top-ranked reporters comforts the mind as we head toward Opening Day – when all things become new.

Read more about journalism and issues facing the profession at JPROF.com.