Updated: To show Scott Davis home in Choto rather than Farragut.

Constitution Day Lecture: The Constitution and the Reasons for Its Provisions

Lots of lawyers and their friends will appear at Blount Mansion on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, to hear Professor Mohamed Faizer speak on The Constitution and the Reasons for its Provisions.

Faizer is a professor of law at Lincoln Memorial University’s Duncan School of Law, where he teaches estate planning, property, constitutional law, administrative law, First Amendment law and Tennessee Constitutional Law. He has published widely in constitutional law, administrative law and estate planning law and has been cited in the Annotated United States Code.

He lectures on tax law with special emphasis on the increased tension in mature democracies between majority rule, minority rights, franchise rights and living standards. He has written extensively on updating jurisprudence related to the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment to engender socio-economic inequality and voting rights deficiencies and has been cited in the Annotated United States Code for his work on voting rights.

Faizer has co-chaired the Knoxville Bar Association’s Diversity in the Practice committee for several years, and in that capacity, has invited numerous speakers to make presentations to local lawyers, law students and academicians on methods of enhancing inclusion and cultural competence in the legal profession.

He joined the LMU faculty in July 2011, was named Professor of the Year for the 2012-13 academic year and appears frequently on local media. He was awarded tenure and full professor status as of July 1, 2017.

Prior to joining the LMU faculty, Professor Faizer was a practicing litigator in Buffalo, New York, at the law firm of Barclay Damon LLP. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame Law School in Notre Dame, Indiana, with a Juris Doctor degree in June 2000. He holds a bachelor’s in international relations and a bachelor’s in physiology from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He is a member of the New York and Tennessee bars.

The event is a fund-raiser for Blount Mansion Association. There is limited free parking on site. $10 suggested donation at the door (cash and card accepted). RSVP to rose@blountmansion.org

Scott Davis trial set for jury selection today

Prominent real estate developer and political operative Scott Davis is scheduled to go on trial today with jury selection starting at 9 a.m. He has been sued by process servers Sharon and Daniel Jones, who claim Davis assaulted them and their dog, Charlie, following Sharon Jones’ service of process at Davis’ Choto home in December 2020. Our earlier story is here. 

Lawbreakers are not the smartest people

He left a message: A 45-year-old Chattanooga man has been sentenced to 24 months in prison for threatening to kill a member of Congress. He was sentenced on September 10, 2025, by U.S. District Judge Curtis L. Collier. Following his imprisonment, he will be on supervised release for one year. When he was unable to reach his target by phone, he left a voice message. Details here.

Charme Allen

Selling drugs while on bond for selling drugs: DA Charme Allen said prosecutors in the Career Gang Unit obtained convictions against a repeat drug dealer who sold meth to an informant while on bond for a separate meth case. Judge Emily Abbott accepted his plea and approved a sentence of 20 years to serve in prison. KCSO officer Harper Lang apprehended the 43-year-old male in a Cedar Bluff area parking lot on February 6, 2024. Details here.

Guns and fentanyl don’t mix: DA Allen said prosecutors in the Career Gang Unit obtained multiple convictions against a career criminal caught with fentanyl and guns. The 33-year-old male was sentenced to 45 years by Senior Judge D. Kelly Thomas. In a two-day trial in July, ADA TaKisha Fitzgerald and Molly Martin explained to the jury that on October 12, 2022, officers with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit executed a search warrant at 5201 Western Avenue based on drug activity at the residence. During the search, officers found over an ounce and a half of fentanyl packaged for resale, digital scales, unused bags, a blender covered in powder residue used for cutting drugs, and approximately $8,000 cash. In the master bedroom, they found the defendant plus two loaded firearms: a Springfield 9mm handgun and a Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun with an extended magazine. Details here.

KBA at Beck Center on Tuesday

The Knoxville Bar Association is planning a CLE and reception for Tuesday, September 16, at the Beck Cultural Exchange Center. “From the Margins to the Mainstream” will salute diversity in the legal field. The event is free to attend for KBA law student members.

Speakers include Hon. Sharon G. Lee, former TN Supreme Court justice; Hon. Hector I. Sanchez, judge of Criminal Court Division II; Ursula Bailey, law office of Ursula Bailey; Wesley O. Eke, Eke Law Firm; Joshua D. Hedrick, Knox Defense; John. T. Winemiller, Merchant & Gould P.C.; and Elle N. Shipley, Lewis Thomason P.C.

Maha M. Ayesh, LMU Duncan School of Law, will moderate. The continuing education segment will run from 4:30-5:30 p.m. with the reception to follow. The Beck Center is located at 1927 Dandridge Ave.

Notes & Quotes

Knoxville Bar Association and Legal Aid of East Tennessee are offering an in-person, free legal advice clinic for veterans on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, from noon to 2 p.m. at the Knox County Public Defender’s Community Law Office, 1101 Liberty Street. The next clinic will be on December 10. For those unable to attend, a telephone consultation can be scheduled. Info: 865-522-6522.

In Memoriam

Bruce A. Butler

Bruce Allen Butler, 71, of Knoxville, Tennessee, passed away on September 10, 2025. He practiced real estate law in Knox and surrounding counties for many years. He was the manager of the Knoxville branch of First Title Corporation.

Mr. Butler was a 1972 graduate of Oneida High School and was salutatorian of his graduating class. He graduated from The University of Tennessee in 1976 with a bachelor’s in business administration. In 1979 he graduated from The University of Tennessee College of Law. Services will be arranged at a later date. The full obituary is here.