New Laws Passed

On July 1^st, T.C.A. 39-40-55 has been amended to allow the use of transdermal monitoring device or some other alcohol or drug monitoring device as a condition of pretrial diversion, parole, probation, judicial diversion or DUI probation where alcohol is alleged as a contributing factor the alleged act.

On July 1^st, T.C.A. 39-131 has been amended to require that the required period of jail time for second and third convictions for domestic assault where bodily injury results must be served in consecutive days and served day for day. It further that a defendant under these circumstances must also serve the difference of the time actually served and the maximum sentence allowed on probation.

Effective July 1^st, the police must obtain a search warrant before searching, examining, extracting or duplicating data from a cellular phone. This burden may also be satisfied if informed consent is provided, the phone has been abandoned or exigent circumstances exist.

Effective July 1^st, one is not required to possess a hand gun permit to have possession of a firearm or ammunition in their vehicle so long as they are not otherwise prohibited from possession of such weapon and have lawful possession of the vehicle.

For more information visit:  http://myspartanews.com/articles/2014/06/30/news/doc53b14e07f3246742118943.txt

HIGH COURT RULES FOR DEATH-ROW INMATES WITH LOW IQ

WASHINGTON (AP) — Twelve years after barring execution of the mentally disabled, the Supreme Court on Tuesday prohibited states in borderline cases from relying only on intelligence test scores to determine whether a death row inmate is eligible to be executed.

In a 5-4 decision that split the court's liberal and conservative justices, the court said that Florida and a handful of other states must look beyond IQ scores when inmates test in the range of 70 to 75. IQ tests have a margin of error, and those inmates whose scores fall within the margin must be allowed to present other evidence of mental disability, Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his majority opinion.

A score of 70 is widely accepted as a marker of mental disability, but medical professionals say people who score as high as 75 can be considered intellectually disabled because of the test's margin of error.

In 2002, the court said that executing mentally disabled inmates violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. But until Tuesday, the justices left to the states the determination of who is mentally disabled.

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