Tennessee Punitive Damages Caps Found Unconstitutional

On December 21, 2018, the 6th Circuit found the statutory cap on punitive damages in Tennessee unconstitutional.  A link to the opinion is here.

Overnight Guest vs. Cohabitation

On October 30, 2018, the Mississippi Court of Appeals decided Bruton v. Bruton, No. 2017-CA-00124-COA (Miss. Ct. App. Oct. 30, 2018) located here.  One of the interesting issues in the case was that the Court of Appeals found the chancellor erred in holding a party in contempt for having a member of the opposite sex not related by blood or marriage stay overnight when the children were present.  The Court found  that the individual Mr. Burton was living with he was cohabitating with.  As such, she was not an "overnight guest."  The Court reasoned that the caselaw distinguishes from cohabitation and overnight guests.   This drew one of the funniest dissents I have seen where Judge Barnes noted "Further, as only "guests" are prohibited under the majority's analysis, Chuck would not have been in contempt of the order had he hired a prostitute to spend the night with the children present. She would, of course, have been an "invitee" rather than a "guest."  The moral of the case is that language in the order must be abundantly clear or a finding of contempt is not proper.

Modification of Child Support

A trial court may award retroactive child support dating back to the time in which the
motion for modification is filed.   See Lawrence v. Lawrence, 574 So. 2d 1376, 1384 (Miss.
1991).