On April 14, 2022, the Eastern District of Tennessee conducted its inaugural “Civics Bowl” in the Chattanooga federal courthouse.  The event was sponsored by the Chattanooga Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.  The participants were members of the Chattanooga Urban League’s National Achievers Society, a group of high school students from various Chattanooga schools focusing on college and life preparation.  

The students were given a list of civics questions to research and study in advance.  They were divided into two teams and took turns competing to answer the questions, with whoever hit their buzzer first getting the first try at the question.  The competition lasted an enthusiastic half hour.  Each member of the winning team received a $15 gift card, courtesy of the FBA. 

After the competition, the students heard from and asked questions of legal practitioners about what they do and how they got where they are.  The panelists were Erin Rust of the Federal Defender Services, Assistant U.S. Attorney Perry Piper, Alexis Crutchfield of Miller & Martin, federal law clerk Kristen Dupard, and District Judge Curtis Collier. 

The nomination of federal appellate judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court is one of the top national stories being covered in the media today. With this nomination receiving so much media coverage, it is an excellent time for a primer on the nomination and confirmation process. The same basic process applies to all Article III federal judges, whether for the trial-level district courts, the circuit courts of appeals, or the Supreme Court. The process also demonstrates one of the ways in which the three different branches of our federal government serve as checks and balances on each other.

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February is Black History Month. Dr. Carter G. Woodson originally established it as a one-week observance in 1926. He picked the second week of February in memory of the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In 1976, the celebration was extended to the entire month. It highlights the accomplishments and achievements of African Americans that might otherwise go unrecognized.

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Many people repeat Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s quotation that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” President Barack Obama, for one, repeated it often. Where did this quotation come from, and what is its connection to the federal courts?

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We recognize December 15 as Bill of Rights Day.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt designated this day by proclamation in 1941 to observe and honor the ratification of the first ten amendments to the Unites States Constitution.  But how did the Bill of Rights itself come to be?

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One of the most important parts of our federal judicial system is the jury.  Most people know the role of the trial jury in determining guilt or innocence in a criminal trial and liability in a civil trial.  But there is another type of federal jury that is critical to the operation of our federal judiciary—the grand jury.

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Federal Courts often encounter disputes where the stakes are high, litigants hold strongly opposed opinions, and emotions run hot.  Add to this a variety of sometimes conflicting personalities, and you might expect unsolvable disputes.

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On Thursday, September 16, 2021, close to a hundred people came together on the steps of the federal courthouse to celebrate the most basic thing we share as Americans: that together, we are “We the people,” and the Constitution is for all of us.

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What do the following fifteen people have in common: Presidents Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and William McKinley; Senator George McGovern; business innovators Henry Ford, J.C. Penney, and Henry John Heinz; financial advisor Dave Ramsey; talk-show host Larry King; celebrated author Mark Twain; entertainment entrepreneurs Walt Disney and P.T. Barnum; actress Debbie Reynolds; and NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback Johnny Unitas?

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This month we celebrated Independence Day, our nation’s birthday.  The Fourth of July holiday reminds us of the founders’ tremendous civic activism and engagement in forming a new nation.  In the years leading up to the decision to separate from England in 1776, they engaged in debates, arguments, assemblies, and public appeals on the pros and cons of separation.

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