Why did two judges wear striped shirts to referee wrestling matches between local lawyers and professional wrestlers at the Ace Miller Golden Gloves Arena on October 31, 2024? Call it CLE.
Continuing Legal Education is required for lawyers to retain their license to practice. And folks look for ways to lighten it up. How about a wrestling event, complete with wine and a lecture. Invite two Knoxville-based professional wrestlers for some sparring and reserve the Golden Gloves Arena. What could go wrong?
UT Law School Professor Alex Long led the seminar, based on his recently published book, Professional Wrestling and the Law: Legal Battles from the Ring to the Courtroom.
Alex Long
Written by a law professor (who happens to be a wrestling fan), this book is an exploration of legal cases involving professional wrestling, according to its description on Amazon.
Topics include: the legal issues involved when a wrestler goes into the crowd and beats up a fan; Hulk Hogan’s defamation lawsuit against World Championship Wrestling for statements made during a live pay-per-view event; and race and sex discrimination in professional wrestling.
Celebrity referees were Judges Kristi Davis and Greg McMillan, and the (real) wrestlers were JeMiale McKinney of J & Co. Productions and Skyler Sage of Jacobs-Prichard Wrestling Academy. No wrestlers were harmed in this production.
Goodwine wins seat on Kentucky Supreme Court
Pamela Goodwine
Democrat Pamela Goodwine, 64, defeated Republican Erin Izzo, 46, to win a seat on the Kentucky Supreme Court. She will become the first Black female justice in the state’s history. The district includes eight central Kentucky counties.
Kentucky supreme court races are nonpartisan, but Goodwine had the endorsement of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear while Izzo was endorsed by six county Republican parties. Goodwine will be sworn into office on Jan. 7.
(Info from Kentucky NPR)
Drunk driver gets nine years after fatal wreck
Charme Allen
Prosecutors in the DUI Unit of DA Charme Allen’s office obtained a nine-year sentence against a 68-year-old man who struck another vehicle head-on after drinking multiple margaritas.
Following his convictions for vehicular homicide by intoxication and DUI, the defendant was ordered to serve nine years in prison and denied an appellate bond.
THP trooper John Capps responded on September 28, 2021, to a fatal wreck on Tazewell Pike in northeast Knox County. As an expert crash reconstructionist, Trp. Capps determined that the defendant drove partially off the right side of the roadway for over 200 feet before accelerating back into the road and into oncoming traffic where he struck the victim’s vehicle head-on, killing him. Additional info here.
Local election officials must certify results
A member of the Fulton County (Georgia) Board of Registration and Elections asked the court to confirm she wasn’t obligated to certify the results of the election in her county.
In Adams v. Fulton County, Julie Adams sought to overturn centuries of election law. Fulton County, of course, contains most of Atlanta and over one million residents. The lawsuit and a subsequent one were denied by Georgia’s Superior Court before the Nov. 5 election.
The court held that election officials “must certify and must do so by a time certain. There are no exceptions.”
Nice ruling, but it didn’t matter. MAGA Republicans only challenge elections that they lose.
