Evan Mealins
@evanmealins.bsky.social
Justice reporter at The Tennessean. Email tips to emealins@tennessean.com | One of Wikipedia's most impactful supporters
Thomas Clardy let me and photographer Nicole Hester follow him around on the first day he was out of prison. Gov. Lee recently commuted his life sentence to parole after a majority of the parole board found he was innocent of the murder charge that put him behind bars.
Released from prison, Thomas Clardy welcomed back to Nashville
Thomas Clardy spent nearly two decades behind bars for a 2005 Nashville murder most say he didn't commit. This week, he returned to his community.
tennessean.com
Thomas Clardy let me and photographer Nicole Hester follow him around on the first day he was out of prison. Gov. Lee recently commuted his life sentence to parole after a majority of the parole board found he was innocent of the murder charge that put him behind bars.
Released from prison, Thomas Clardy welcomed back to Nashville
Thomas Clardy spent nearly two decades behind bars for a 2005 Nashville murder most say he didn't commit. This week, he returned to his community.
tennessean.com
Wrote a story about how most lawyers are using AI now:
Your attorney probably uses AI. How the tech is reshaping law practice
“I'm both thrilled ... and terrified," one Vanderbilt Law School professor said.
tennessean.com
Tennessee has settled its lawsuit against Meta, along with 46 other states
Meta trial has settled in Tennessee, elsewhere
The Meta trial has settled
tennessean.com
We confirmed that a government contractor is considering putting an ICE call center in at an office building on Royal Parkway near the Nashville airport. www.tennessean.com/story/news/l...
Contractor eyes office space by Nashville airport for ICE call center
The government contractor is considering occupying an office building near the Nashville airport but plans have not been finalized.
tennessean.com
A federal contract database lists Nashville as the site of a planned ICE support center
Federal contract lists Nashville for planned ICE support center
The Donelson area is listed as the site of a planned support center for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
tennessean.com
“I doubt they’re really going to investigate because of what we do — because of where we are,” she said. “It’s just one less problem for them … But we’re still somebody’s mother or sister or daughter.”
Friends mourn unhoused Nashvillian killed by semi-truck - Nashville Banner
A 46-year-old unhoused Nashville woman was fatally run over by a semi-truck while sleeping under its trailer Monday. Friends recall her life, struggles.
nashvillebanner.com
An unlicensed daycare run out a home in Antioch was shut down after DHS found that a man convicted of assaulting a 4-year-old lived at the home. From me:
Antioch daycare shut down after state links home to criminal
State employees learned a man convicted of assault against a 4-year-old was married to the woman running the operation and lived at the residence.
tennessean.com
JUST NOW: Former Titans scout Blaise Taylor has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the poisoning death of the mother of his unborn child.
Jurors deliberating whether former Titans scout guilty of murder
Jurors heard arguments for and against convicting Blaise Taylor of murder in the death of Jade Benning and her unborn child.
tennessean.com
Trousdale County sees the prison as a burden, and there's nearly no way to get out of its deal with CoreCivic. So this week, the county extended its contract with TDOC. From me yesterday: Why Trousdale County is locked into prison deal with no clear exit
Why Trousdale County is locked into prison deal with no clear exit
Trousdale Turner prison places strain on first responders and the local jail, but there's no expiration date on the county's CoreCivic contract.
tennessean.com
The Trousdale County Commission took an important vote to keep the prison running last night. Here's my story on it, "Why Trousdale County is locked into prison deal with no clear exit"
Why Trousdale County is locked into prison deal with no clear exit
Trousdale Turner prison places strain on first responders and the local jail, but there's no expiration date on the county's CoreCivic contract.
tennessean.com
The trial of former Titans scout Blaise Taylor, accused of fatally poisoning his pregnant girlfriend, is about to start. Lawyers began the lengthy jury selection process this morning and will probably finish that later today. In the meantime, you can read my trial preview:
Former Titans scout accused of poisoning unborn child's mother to face trial
Police say Blaise Taylor killed Jade Benning with a fatal dose of cocaine in early 2023, when she was five months pregnant with his child.
tennessean.com
it actually brings me great pleasure to know that billionaires are so afraid of journalists that they’re trying to build whole new systems for justice to diminish our power. despite corporate consolidation, we continue to do something they can’t fully buy and it drives them mad. stay mad, assholes.
A Peter Thiel-Backed Tribunal Is Putting Journalists on Trial. I’m Its First Target
The billionaire has reteamed with the legal strategist who helped him bring down Gawker to start an AI-powered appeals court for the rich and aggrieved.
hollywoodreporter.com
State Rep. Johnny Shaw (also a pastor) was the first person elected to a redrawn House district that was created after a lawsuit challenging violations to Section 2 of the VRA. Callais now imperils Shaw's district, @evanmealins.bsky.social reports: www.tennessean.com/story/news/p...
Voters fought for state, local majority Black districts now at risk
Over the years, Tennesseans sued to create majority Black districts at the state and local levels. Those districts are now at risk.
tennessean.com
My story from today on what might lie ahead at the state and local level after the Supreme Court's redistricting decision in Louisiana v. Callais:
Voters fought for state, local majority Black districts now at risk
Over the years, Tennesseans sued to create majority Black districts at the state and local levels. Those districts are now at risk.
tennessean.com
Tennessee Republican lawmakers are expected to consider state-level redistricting next legislative session.
Republicans expected to consider redistricting TN legislature in 2027
A spokesperson for Tennessee Senate Republicans confirmed lawmakers are likely to consider legislation related to redistricting the state legislature.
tennessean.com
A wrongful death suit says a man with no teeth was locked up in the Rutherford County jail, was denied his request for soft food, and then died by choking last May. His grandmother is seeking $5 million.
Man with no teeth dies after TN jail denied him soft food: lawsuit
Rutherford County jail guards and medical staff were too slow to respond to save Joseph Adam Denton, the lawsuit states.
tennessean.com
The catastrophic 2021 flood in Waverly will be examined at trial in August to determine if railroad company CSX should be held liable for its possible role in creating a "man-made tidal wave" that swept through the town.
Trial set in Waverly flood lawsuit. What it means for residents
A jury will determine what responsibility railroad giant CSX Transportation may have had in exacerbating the effects of the flood.
tennessean.com
An unknown investment firm has signed a non-binding letter of intent to purchase Uncle Nearest:
Black-owned firm signs letter of intent to buy Uncle Nearest
An African American-owned investment firm has signed a letter of intent to purchase troubled Tennessee whiskey brand Uncle Nearest.
tennessean.com
The story about the Eli Lilly lawsuit, which @evanmealins.bsky.social led the charge on: www.tennessean.com/story/news/c...
Pastor, ex-council member sued by Eli Lilly. Maynard denies claims
Jerry Maynard II denied the claim he participated in a drug rebate fraud scheme after he was sued by drug manufacturer Eli Lilly.
tennessean.com
Residents of South Memphis neighborhoods are being regularly exposed to air pollution levels that exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s standards for public health, according to a community air monitoring project report released May 21. From @cstephenson.bsky.social.
Community air monitoring project finds South Memphis is regularly exposed to unsafe air pollution • Tennessee Lookout
South Memphis neighborhoods are being exposed to air pollution levels that exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s standards for public health.
tennesseelookout.com
Troubled Tennessee whiskey brand Uncle Nearest is under federal investigation, a court filing shows:
The doctor who participated in the attempted execution of Tony Carruthers said in October that he had not performed the procedure he attempted in the death chamber since 2013.
Lawyers raise alarm on Tennessee executioners' medical qualifications
Tony Carruthers’ attorneys are criticizing the qualifications of the doctor who participated in his failed execution
tennessean.com
BREAKING: A federal judge has dismissed the criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. The evidence before the court, the judge wrote, "sadly reflects an abuse of prosecuting power." www.tennessean.com/story/news/c...
Federal judge dismisses Kilmar Abrego Garcia's criminal charges
A federal judge dismissed the criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The charges stemmed from a traffic stop in Cookeville, Tennessee.
tennessean.com
Yesterday, The Tennessean published a helpful, simple lawsuit tracker for all the legal challenges against redistricting. I'll be updating it as we get more info.
Track the lawsuits trying to block Tennessee's redistricting
See what has happened and what is next in the four lawsuits trying to block Tennessee Republicans' congressional redistricting.
tennessean.com
JUST NOW: Tennessee prison officials say they called off the execution of Tony Carruthers after repeated failures to establish an IV line for lethal injection.
Evan Mealins@evanmealins.bsky.social · 4mo agoBREAKING: Tony Carruthers attorneys say executioners cannot find a vein for lethal injection and have asked for a stay of his execution.
BREAKING: Tony Carruthers attorneys say executioners cannot find a vein for lethal injection and have asked for a stay of his execution.
Tony Carruthers' attorneys say executioners cannot find vein, ask for stay
Carruthers' attorneys filed an emergency motion for a stay of execution to the Tennessee Supreme Court at about 11:40 a.m.
commercialappeal.com
The high court denied Tony Carruthers' last ditch effort for a stay before his execution. Witnesses were sent back to the death chamber about an hour ago. Carruthers will die by a lethal dose of pentobarbital. DNA and fingerprint evidence from the scene is still untested.
Tony Carruthers has filed to SCOTUS ahead of his execution tomorrow at 10 a.m. It's his last chance to test "untested DNA evidence that could prove (his) long-maintained innocence, undermine his death sentence, and/or identify an alternative suspect."
SCOTUS Tony Von Carruthers v. State of Tennessee Cert. Petition | American Civil Liberties Union
aclu.org
