By Ben Jealous People who care about equal justice under the law should be very happy about President Joe Biden’s first set of judicial nominees. I am especially excited about the three outstanding Black women that President Biden nominated to the circuit courts—the appeals court level just below the U.S. Supreme Court. You will soon be hearing more about all these highly credentialed and accomplished women: Ketanji Brown Jackson, Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, and Tiffany Cunningham. Biden is fulfilling his promise to bring professional diversity to courts that are dominated by former prosecutors and corporate lawyers. Ketanji Brown Jackson and Candace Jackson-Akiwumi…
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TN Tribune)– Oracle Corporation today requested a public hearing for approval of an Economic Impact Plan with the Metro Industrial Development Board (IDB), as has been reported. Approval from the IDB and Metro Council is needed to finalize Oracle’s proposal to bring 8,500 jobs and a $1.2 billion investment to Nashville. The 8,500 new jobs, with an average salary of $110,000, would be unrivaled in the history of Tennessee economic development projects. “We are thrilled that Oracle is ready to make a billion-dollar bet on Nashville,” said Mayor John Cooper. “Oracle will bring a record number of high-paying…
NASHVILLE – Rising timber prices and the value of individual species have enticed thieves to steal timber across Tennessee. The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) urges forest landowners to be aware of timber theft and provides steps owners can take to protect their assets. “Timber theft can be financially devastating to a landowner,” State Forester David Arnold said. “The value of the timber is not the only loss. In most cases, the thieves damage property and negatively impact conservation efforts and wildlife. We want Tennessee landowners to know what they can do to help protect their property against theft or…
Cincinnati– The Blacks in Technology Foundation, a tech-focused community dedicated to increasing the representation and participation of Black people in the technology industry, and Apprenti, a national leader in delivering registered tech apprenticeship programs to place non-traditional hires into in-demand tech careers, today announced a partnership aimed to increase Black representation across the tech industry. There currently are three million available tech jobs in America, but the nation’s colleges produce only 80,000 computer science graduates each year. On top of that, too many employers only recruit from certain schools, over-rely on college graduates, and generally don’t seek to recruit from the broadest…
Nashville, TN (TN Tribune)–Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP today announced that legal technology veteran Steve Novak has joined the firm as its Chief Information Officer. Novak joins Waller after similar roles with two of the world’s largest law firms and as Director of Legal Operations and Technology at a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company. “Steve is an innovator when it comes to legal technology,” said Waller chair Matt Burnstein. “Steve starts the technology conversation by asking what are the key technology service capabilities required to enable the delivery of value-aligned legal services to our clients. He is client-focused and proactive,…
There’s grilling a witness, and then there’s whatever you want to call the histrionic performance Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) treated a House subcommittee to Thursday. Jordan was so contemptuous that, after he exceeded his time limit (yet nevertheless kept talking), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) intervened. “Your time expired, sir,” she told Jordan, curtly. “You need to respect the chair and shut your mouth.” The hearing was convened to discuss “a science-driven approach” to “swiftly and safely” ending the pandemic. In the minutes leading up to the above exchange, Jordan repeatedly accosted Dr. Anthony Fauci, demanding answers to misleading questions, then loudly speaking…
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Washington, D.C.–The House will vote on making Washington, D.C., the 51st state during the week of April 19, the district’s non-voting representative in Congress announced Wednesday. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the D.C. delegate, said the House Oversight Committee will vote on her statehood bill on April 14 and then send the legislation for a full House vote the following week. “The week of April 19th the House will take a historic step in righting the monumental wrong of denying the 712,000 federal taxpaying American citizens who live in the nation’s capital voting representation in Congress and self-government without congressional interference into…
WASHINGTON – Today Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05) issued the following statement on the recent acts of gun violence in Tennessee: “Less than one week since Governor Lee signed the reckless ‘permitless carry’ bill into law, a bill allowing handguns to be carried without any training or permit, we have had three major acts of gun violence in Tennessee. A wonderful hardworking Middle Tennessee woman and her daughter were murdered. Another murder happened in a Knoxville high school, and the last resulted in the death of a young girl. Tennessee’s gun laws are now some of the loosest in the nation.…