This month, we will celebrate Thanksgiving. We all have our own traditions for the holiday—traveling to be with family, meals with friends and loved ones, football games, movies, and a myriad of other traditions. With COVID-19, we must alter many of these traditions and celebrate Thanksgiving in a manner unlike our past celebrations.
NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Giving Thanks for the Rule of Law
Chief Judge McDonough Highlights the Ed Johnson Case
I walk by the site of the future Ed Johnson memorial nearly every day. Several from our court have dedicated a good deal of time to this effort, in one way or another.
The Courts' Role in Protecting Voting Rights
November 3, Election Day, is right around the corner. Of course, voting is fundamental to elections. It is through voting we both give our consent to those we entrust to govern us and hold those governing us accountable. From our right to vote come many of our rights and freedoms.
Sixth Circuit Announces Winners of 2020 Student Essay Contest
Students from Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee have been selected as winners of the inaugural Sixth Circuit 2020 Student Essay Contest, an educational outreach effort for high school junior and seniors sponsored by the Sixth Circuit Civics and Outreach Committee.
Book Reading Recording at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center
On July 1, 2020, Senior Judge Curtis L. Collier participated in a book reading recording at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center in Chattanooga for the Center’s new series titled “Bessie’s Front Porch.” The series will be posted on the Center’s Facebook page to reach children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Judge Collier read Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., written by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Bryan Collier (no relation).”
Law Day 2020, The Courts Adapt to the Crisis
The first day of May is Law Day. We set aside May 1 of each year to celebrate the rule of law and the role of law in our society. The American Bar Association, our nation’s largest legal organization, describes it in these words: “Law Day provides an opportunity to understand how law and the legal process protect our liberty, strive to achieve justice, and contribute to the freedoms that all Americans share.”
Law Day is May 1, 2020
Law Day May 1 is an annual celebration of the rule of law in a free society. Throughout May, judges and lawyers reach out to their communities across the nation to stimulate critical thinking about the founding fundamentals that are so easily taken for granted.
Online Tools Make Civics Accessible to Teachers, Parents, and Teens
In communities forced to quarantine because of the coronavirus (COVID-19), social studies teachers are venturing into the distance learning space and parents are seeking ways to keep homebound teenagers constructively occupied.
Lincoln Memorial University School of Law
Chief Judge Reeves hosted the Criminal Practice Class and professor, Melanie Reid, at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Federal Courthouse for Moot Court on February 13, 2020. The students presented a change of plea, an argument of a motion for judgment of acquittal, a 924 (c) motion argument, and argument of a Rule 29 motion in a drug conspiracy trial.
President's Day Message 2020
Monday, February 17, is President's Day. The holiday was originally designed to honor our first president, George Washington, and was celebrated on his birthday, February 12.