Alberto R. Gonzales will be in Knoxville, speaking to Law Day 2026 on Wednesday, April 29, from 11:30 to 1 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza. Sponsored by the Knoxville Bar Association (KBA), Gonzales is a former U.S. Attorney General (February 2005-September 2007).
He currently is Dean of the College of Law at Belmont University (Nashville) where he also is the Doyle Rogers Distinguished Professor of Law. Dean Gonzales teaches Constitutional Law, First Amendment Law, National Security Law and Separation of Powers at Belmont Law. Register online. The program sponsor is First Horizon.
Charme Allen adds new assistant DA
John L. Haupt has joined DA Charme Allen’s team as an assistant district attorney. Allen said Haupt has more than six years of experience in juvenile delinquency, child welfare and general litigation, most recently serving as an assistant attorney for the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. A California native, Haupt came to Knoxville to attend LMU’s Duncan School of Law.
Joyce Vance looks at the week ahead
Joyce Vance writes that reporting indicates the armed man who tried to breach security at the White House Correspondents Dinner on April 25, 2026, was a member of wideawakes. Bet you never heard of them!
Wednesday (04/29/26) will be the last regularly scheduled day for the Supreme Court to hear oral argument this term. The Court will take up two consolidated cases, Mullin v. Doe and Trump v. Miot, and consider whether the Trump administration acted properly when it revoked protected status for Syrians and Haitians living in this country. The cases involve decisions from New York and Washington, D.C., barring the administration from stripping more than 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians of protected legal status that protects them from deportation.
Blotter
Echelon Fitness Multimedia LLC, a Chattanooga-based company that sells connected fitness equipment, such as smart bikes, treadmills and rowers and provides digital memberships that offer live and on-demand classes, has agreed to settle allegations under the False Claims Act (FCA) that the company deceptively undervalued fitness equipment imported into the United States to lessen tariff obligations and other import assessments owed to the United States. Under the terms of the settlement, Echelon will pay at least $2.1 million to resolve the FCA claims. More here.
99 months and $7 million restitution is the U.S. District Court sentence for a Powell, Tennessee, man who flim-flammed people through a five-year telephone scheme. Details here.
Notes & Quotes
Early voting is underway. Find voting sites, sample ballots, etc. here. I’m not writing about politics on knoxtntoday.com/. But I am sharing my opinions on Facebook. Find my stuff here.
Free legal advice for veterans is coming noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 10, 2026. Details: 2026 Veterans Legal Advice Clinic. There is no clinic in May.
Quote: “Those wishing to honor her memory might do so by planting onions, donating to PBS, reading something worthwhile, or telling the truth plainly. – Obituary of Rebecca Gayle “Becki” Wallace Lawson, a Karns High graduate who died Sunday, April 18, 2026.
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