Half of Tennesseans think the state is on “the right track,” while the other half think we are on “the wrong track.” That’s just one baffling result in the fall 2024 Vanderbilt poll, released in mid-December. Individual politicians rated favorably:
- Gov. Bill Lee – 60%
- Sen. Marsha Blackburn – 53%
- Sen. Bill Hagerty – 46%
Yet on specific issues, a majority of voters stand apart from policy positions of elected officials with 53% pro-choice on abortion; 73% favoring use of federal funds to expand Medicaid; 63% favoring recreational marijuana and 67-86% favoring one of four listed limits on gun ownership. Read the full poll here.
Keeping up with UT College of Law
Zack Buck
Zack Buck, associate dean for faculty development and professor of law, presented his work in progress, “Patients as Stakeholders,” as part of the Health Law Workshop at UCLA School of Law in Los Angeles, California, and as part of the Moritz Health Law Colloquium at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in Columbus, Ohio.
Joan Heminway
Joan MacLeod Heminway, Rick Rose Distinguished Professor of Law, was quoted in a Fortune article by Seamus Webster. The article, “Inside Elon Musk’s 23 active lawsuits,” categorized and summarized Elon Musk’s currently active litigation.
LMU Law sets open houses
Three upcoming open houses will enable potential students of LMU Duncan School of Law to check available programs:
- February 11: Hybrid – in-person and virtual. Class limited to 60 students (two sections of 30); about 2/3 of the program is asynchronous on-line
- February 20: Full-time virtual
- March 5: Full-time in-person (Knoxville)
Poor George
Stephanopoulos
Finally, the New York Post wants you to know that George Stephanopoulos is “apoplectic,” “humiliated” and “defiant” over Disney’s decision to settle Donald Trump’s libel suit against ABC News and Stephanopoulos for $16 million, writes the New York Post.
Stephanopoulos said repeatedly on air that a jury found that Trump had “raped” the writer E. Jean Carroll – technically inaccurate but nevertheless backed up by a federal judge who ruled that was exactly what the jury had found if one relies on everyday English rather than legal terminology.
Dan Kennedy at Media Nation says Stephanopoulos could have resigned and continued to fight the suit. “By failing to take that route, he is complicit in his own embarrassment.”
In Memoriam
Patti Jane Lay
Patti Jane Lay, 69, of Knoxville, passed away on December 26, 2024, at her home. Patti Jane was raised in the Deane Hill neighborhood and graduated as salutatorian of the Webb School Class of 1973.
She graduated from Emory University in Atlanta and the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1979. During law school, her activities included the Mock Trial team, Law Review Association and Order of the Coif.
Survivors include her husband, John Thomas Baugh, three children and granddaughter, Ruthanne Coughlin. The full obituary is here.
The family will receive friends on Thursday, January 2, from 4-6 p.m. at Rose Mann Chapel 6200 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, with a memorial service to follow.
Ronald Bosch
Ronald Lee Bosch, 85, died on December 21, 2024. He is the father of Knoxville attorney Donald Bosch and Ronald Bosch. The full obituary is here.
After a 20-year career in the military, he moved to Knoxville and served 22 years as a court officer, assisting Judges Bill Swann, Greg McMillan and Chuck Cerny. He likened his time as a bailiff to being a “social director on a cruise ship.”
The family will receive friends on Tuesday, January 7, from 5:30-7:30 at Click’s Funeral Home, 9020 Middlebrook Pike. Internment with full military honors will be on Wednesday, January 8, at 10 a.m. at the East Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery, 2200 E. Governor John Sevier Highway.
