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The University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law will host this year’s update on Judicial Branch operations when Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. gives the State of the Judiciary Address on Friday, Nov. 2.
He will speak before the General Assembly’s Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary starting at 10 a.m. ET in the Cox Lounge of the U of L School of Law, 2301 S. 3rd St., Louisville. The event is open to the public and the media.
The 2018 State of the Judiciary Address will focus on how the court system is adapting to meet the changing needs of society. Chief Justice Minton will talk about the progress being made on the Civil Justice Reform Initiative, the Court Efficiency Committee, the 3DaysCount pretrial justice reform project, juvenile justice reform, the launch of eFiling for self-represented litigants and more.
The full address will be posted here shortly after the conclusion of his remarks.
The chief justice is the administrative head of the state court system and is responsible for overseeing its operation. Chief Justice Minton was elected to the Supreme Court in 2006. His fellow justices elected him to serve a third four-year term as chief justice in 2016. He is a member of the board of directors for the State Justice Institute, a federal nonprofit corporation that awards grants to improve the quality of justice in state courts. He is also a past president of the Conference of Chief Justices and past chair of the National Center for State Courts Board of Directors.
The Supreme Court of Kentucky will convene Oct. 25-26 in Frankfort to hear oral arguments in cases that originated in Campbell, Daviess, Fayette, Franklin, Jefferson and Knox counties. Proceedings are open to the public and will take place in the Supreme Court Courtroom on the second floor of the state Capitol at 700 Capitol Ave. in Frankfort.
The public may also observe oral arguments via the Supreme Court livestream on the Kentucky Court of Justice website. Oral arguments are available online as they occur in real time and are not available as archives.
The Supreme Court is the state court of last resort and the final interpreter of Kentucky law. Seven justices sit on the Supreme Court and all seven justices rule on appeals that come before the court. The justices are elected from seven appellate districts and serve eight-year terms. A chief justice, chosen for a four-year term by fellow justices, is the administrative head of the state’s court system and is responsible for its operation. The Supreme Court may order a ruling or opinion to be published, which means that the ruling becomes the case law governing all similar cases in the future in Kentucky.
THURSDAY, OCT. 25, 2018
9 AM
2017-SC-000441-DG
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY V. MICHAEL PADGETT
2017-SC-000661-DG
MICHAEL PADGETT V. COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY
“Criminal Law. Mistrial. Double Jeopardy. Issues involve a pretrial ruling and whether the trial court abused discretion in declaring a mistrial after defense counsel’s perceived violation of that ruling.”
Discretionary Review granted 12/7/2017 and 2/7/2018
Daviess Circuit Court, Judge Joseph W. Castlen, III
Attorney for Appellant/Cross-Appellee: Thomas Allen Van De Rostyne
Attorney for Appellee/Cross-Appellant: Emily Holt Rhorer and Shannon Dupree
10 AM
2017-SC-000596-DG
LEE COMLEY V. AUTO-OWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY
“Insurance Law. Homeowners Coverage. The issues, involving potential coverage for damage to a home resulting from a nearby water main break, concern the scope of the “water damage” exclusions as to “water below the surface of the ground . . . which . . . flows, seeps or leaks through any part of a building” and as to “regardless of the cause . . . flood.”
Discretionary Review granted 3/14/2018
Fayette Circuit Court, Judge Thomas L. Clark
Attorneys for Appellant: Stephen M. O’Brien, III, Bruce Clark Batten, II, and David Coomer
Attorneys for Appellee: Luke Alan Wingfield and John Carter
11 AM
2017-SC-000274-DG
LOUISVILLE AND JEFFERSON COUNTY METROPOLITAN SEWER DISTRICT V. T+C CONTRACTING, INC.
“Contract. Fairness in Construction Act. KRS 371.405. Issues include whether the dispute resolution provisions in the parties’ contract, which deem the contractor’s claim for additional compensation from MSD waived if certain procedural requirements are not met, violate the Fairness in Construction Act.”
Discretionary Review granted 3/14/2018
Jefferson Circuit Court, Judge James M. Shake
Attorneys for Appellant: Kenneth Allen Bohnert, Richard M. Sullivan and Jennifer Fust-Rutherford
Attorney for Appellee: Gerald Lee Stovall
FRIDAY, OCT. 26, 2018
9 AM
2017-SC-000203-DG
SHANNON JONES, ET AL. V. DAVID WAYNE BAILEY
2017-SC-000604-DG
DAVID WAYNE BAILEY V. SHANNON JONES, ET AL.
“Parole Board. Entitlement to Assistance of Counsel. The issues include whether the final post-incarceration sex offender supervision revocation hearing is a “critical stage” of the proceeding, triggering entitlement to assistance of counsel.”
Discretionary Review granted 10/25/2017 and 12/7/2017
Franklin Circuit Court, Judge Thomas D. Wingate
Attorney for Appellants/Cross-Appellees: Angela Turner Dunham
Attorney for Appellee/Cross-Appellant: Timothy G. Arnold
10 AM
2017-SC-000348-DG
BARBARA SMITH V. BONNIE SMITH
“Torts. Personal Injury. Slip and Fall. Issues include whether the status of a visitor as an invitee or licensee or trespasser continues to define the scope of the property owner’s duty to the visitor.”
Discretionary Review granted 3/14/2018
Knox Circuit Court, Judge Gregory Allen Lay
Attorneys for Appellant: Michael D. Risley, Darrell L. Saunders and Bethany A. Breetz
Attorneys for Appellee: Brien Glenn Freeman, Todd Kevin Childers and Aaron Howard
11 AM
2017-SC-000340-DG
RAYMOND HAYES, ET AL. V. D.C.I. PROPERTIES-D. KY, LLC, ET AL.
“Torts. Personal Injury. Trespasser. Attractive Nuisance. Issues include whether the 16-year-old plaintiff can recover for injuries sustained when he trespassed on the defendant’s construction site.”
Discretionary Review granted 4/18/2018
Campbell Circuit Court, Judge Fred A. Stine, V.
Attorney for Appellants: Anthony McIntosh
Attorney for D.C.I. Properties-D. KY, LLC: James Moberly West
Attorney for The Nelson Stark Company: Mark MacDonald
The Supreme Court of Kentucky will convene April 18-19 in Frankfort to hear oral arguments in cases that originated in Fayette, Jefferson and Oldham counties. Proceedings are open to the public and will take place in the Supreme Court Courtroom on the second floor of the state Capitol at 700 Capitol Ave. in Frankfort.
The public may also observe oral arguments via the Supreme Court live stream on the Kentucky Court of Justice website. Oral arguments are available online as they occur in real time and are not available as archives.
The Supreme Court is the state court of last resort and the final interpreter of Kentucky law. Seven justices sit on the Supreme Court and all seven justices rule on appeals that come before the court. The justices are elected from seven appellate districts and serve eight-year terms. A chief justice, chosen for a four-year term by fellow justices, is the administrative head of the state’s court system and is responsible for its operation. The Supreme Court may order a ruling or opinion to be published, which means that the ruling becomes the case law governing all similar cases in the future in Kentucky.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2018
11 AM
2017-SC-0235-DG
CINDY MUNCIE, ET AL. V. PATRICIA WEISEMAN
“Environmental Law. Stigma Damages to Property. The issue is whether and to what extent a property owner may be entitled to additional damages beyond costs of remediation for stigma attaching to property as a result of an environmental injury.”
Discretionary Review granted 9/20/2017
Oldham Circuit Court, Judge Karen A. Conrad
Attorney for Appellants: Joseph E. Conley, Jr.
Attorneys for Appellee: Kenneth Allen Bohnert and Bradley Robert Palmer
THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018
9 AM
2016-SC-0180-DGE
MELVIN HENSLEY, ET AL. V. HAYNES TRUCKING, LLC, ET AL.
“Class Actions. Public Works Contracts. Non-payment of Prevailing Wages. The primary issue in this case is whether the Movants were permitted to bring a class action alleging a failure to pay prevailing wages to workers on qualifying public works projects. Another issue is whether the requirements for a class action were satisfied in this case.”
Discretionary Review granted 10/25/2017
Fayette Circuit Court, Judge Ernesto Scorsone
Attorneys for Appellants: Brent L. Caldwell, William R. Garmer, Jerome Park Prather and Bryce Caldwell
Attorneys for Appellees Haynes Trucking, LLC and L-M Asphalt Partners, LTD D/B/A ATS Construction: Robert E. Maclin, III, Jon Allen Woodall, Brendan Reynolds Yates and Masten Childers, III
Attorneys for Hartford Fire Insurance Co.: Susan C. Sears, La Toi D. Mayo and J. Andrew Inman
10 AM
2017-SC-0155-DG
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY V. B. H.
“Juvenile Law. Competency. Jurisdiction. KRS 635.020(4). Issues involve district court jurisdiction to conduct a competency hearing regarding a 14-year old who allegedly committed murder and first-degree robbery.”
Discretionary Review granted 8/16/17
Jefferson Circuit Court, Judge Brian C. Edwards
Attorneys for Appellant: Michael J. O’Connell, David A. Sexton, and Christopher Brown
Attorneys for Appellee: Daniel T. Goyette, Bruce P. Hackett and Elizabeth Zilberberg
Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes on Thursday led a robust discussion on the trust Americans place in courts and media at the Kentucky Bar Association convention. Grimes’ panel included Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice John D. Minton, Jr., retired federal Judge Jennifer B. Coffman, WHAS host Terry Meiners, and television commentator Krystal Ball.
“Polling increasingly shows a disturbing and declining level of trust among Americans for public institutions like the judiciary and media,” said Grimes. “Earlier this year, my office released our Civic Health Index, a study revealing Kentucky ranks 48th in the nation for trust in media and public institutions. Our discussion today was important to identify causes and solutions for stemming the tide of distrust.”
Grimes noted that the proliferation of information sources make it easier than ever for citizens to seek news and commentary that affirms their political beliefs rather than informs them.
“If you hear something you don’t like in the media, or disagree with something from the courts, people now say, ‘They’re on the other team and the enemy’,” said Ball. “Some politicians have seized on that sentiment and use it to divide people.”
“The media is in a place to poke and ask questions and to create a pendulum of ideas. It is incumbent on the media to open the gates to keep the information flowing to the people. It’s the only way we’ll flourish,” said Meiners.
Minton, who has been traveling Kentucky discussing ways to strengthen citizens’ regard for the American judiciary, said minorities are more likely than not to have a distrust of the court system.
“There’s a firmly-held belief in the African-American community that courts are not fair to them. It raises the point that [the judiciary has] a trust deficit with certain segments of the population that we need to address,” said Minton.
Polling shows Americans have more confidence in their state courts than federal courts. Coffman said that’s due to people being more connected to their local judicial officials.
“State court judges are people who are our neighbors, maybe you go to church with them. If you put a human face on something, you are much more likely to trust it,” said Coffman. “Federal courts are reviewed as a little remote.”
The Civic Health Index showed only 46.5 percent of Kentuckians say they are a great deal or somewhat confident in the media. Ball said the media is partly to blame.
“[The media] has in some ways not done ourselves any favors. 2016 was the most substance-free election in terms of the coverage,” Ball said. “When people hear the rhetoric from politicians and then they turn on the TV and see the shouting matches, they believe the media isn’t working for them.”
“It’s a successful strategy [to say the media is fake]. But it’s cyclical. It’ll wear itself out,” said Meiners.
The panel agreed that media is instrumental in making sure the public understands the court system and how it works.
“When I came to the court, you had a press corps with a lot of knowledge about government and the courts. Now, most [reporters] don’t speak the language of the judiciary, and we have to teach them,” said Minton.
Coffman said most media approaches its reporting with trust in the judiciary: “In responsible media sources, you have an underlying belief in the rule of law.”
Grimes and the panel reiterated the important duty media and judiciary have in a healthy democracy.
“We all have a role to play in building up trust in our public institutions,” said Grimes.
Read more about Kentucky’s Civic Health Index at sos.ky.gov.
The Supreme Court of Kentucky will convene April 19-20 in Frankfort to hear oral arguments in civil cases that originated in Bell, Bracken, Fayette, Franklin and Jefferson counties. Proceedings are open to the public and will take place in the Supreme Court Courtroom on the second floor of the state Capitol at 700 Capitol Ave. in Frankfort.
The public may also observe oral arguments via the Supreme Court live stream on the Kentucky Court of Justice website. Oral arguments are available online as they occur in real time and are not available as archives.
The Supreme Court is the state court of last resort and the final interpreter of Kentucky law. Seven justices sit on the Supreme Court and all seven justices rule on appeals that come before the court. The justices are elected from seven appellate districts and serve eight-year terms. A chief justice, chosen for a four-year term by fellow justices, is the administrative head of the state’s court system and is responsible for its operation. The Supreme Court may order a ruling or opinion to be published, which means that the ruling becomes the case law governing all similar cases in the future in Kentucky.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017
9 AM ET
2016-SC-000008-DG
BIG SANDY REGIONAL JAIL AUTHORITY V. LEXINGTON FAYETTE URBAN COUNTY GOVERNMENT
“Sovereign Immunity. KRS 441.025. At issue in this matter is whether sovereign immunity bars an action by a regional jail against a county to recover the costs of housing that county’s prisoners, after they were arrested and held pursuant to a warrant from courts of that county. In addition, at issue is whether KRS 441.025 obligates a county to pay for the incarceration of prisoners arrested and held on warrants issued by the courts of that county which are served in the county where the prisoner is incarcerated.”
Discretionary Review granted 9/15/2016
Fayette Circuit Court, Judge Kim M. Wilkie and Judge Ernesto Scorsone
Attorney for Appellant: Nelson Theodore Sparks
Attorneys for Appellee: Michael Keith Horn and Charles Edwards, III
10 AM
2016-SC-000321-DG
KENTUCKYONE HEALTH, INC. V. BENJAMIN REID, JR., M.D.
“Health Care Quality Improvement Act. Rebuttable Presumption of Immunity. At issue in this case is whether the hospital’s actions against the physician constitute “professional review action” to which the rebuttable presumption of immunity provisions of the Health Care Quality Improvement Act apply. Additionally, if immunity did not apply to the physician’s claims against the hospital, was there sufficient evidence to support a summary judgment on the claims for breach of contract, tortious interference with a business relationship and slander.”
Discretionary Review granted 10/13/2016
Jefferson Circuit Court, Judge Audra Jean Eckerle
Attorneys for Appellant: Kathryn Ann Quesenberry and Michael P. Abate
Attorneys for Appellee: Larry B. Franklin, Kelly Jo Brownfield and Patrick John Smith
11 AM ET
2016-SC-000243-DG
ST. AUGSTINE SCHOOL, ET AL. V. JANET CROPPER
“Contracts. Ecclesiastical Abstention. Whether a breach of contract claim by a parochial school administrator involves a matter of internal church governance requiring judicial abstention.”
Discretionary Review granted 10/13/2016
Bracken Circuit Court, Judge Stockton B. Wood
Attorneys for Appellants: Richard G. Meyer and Nicholas Charles Birkenhauer
Attorney for Appellee: Gail Marie Langendorf
THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017
10 AM ET
2016-SC-000281-DG
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION CABINET, DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE V. INTERSTATE GAS SUPPLY, INC., FOR THE USE AND BENEFIT OF TRI-STATE HEALTHCARE LAUNDRY, INC.
“Kentucky Constitution § 170. Tax Exemption. Institution of Purely Public Charity. The issue in this case is whether an institution of purely public charity should be exempt from payment of a use tax under § 170 of the Kentucky Constitution.”
Discretionary Review granted 10/13/2016
Franklin Circuit Court, Judge Thomas D. Wingate
Attorney for Appellant: Douglas M. Dowell
Attorneys for Appellee: Timothy Joseph Eifler and Stephen A. Sherman
11 AM ET
2015-SC-000489-DG
NAMI RESOURCES COMPANY, L.L.C., ET AL. V. ASHER LAND AND MINERAL, LTD, ET AL.
2016-SC-000235-DG
ASHER LAND AND MINERAL, LTD V. NAMI RESOURCES COMPANY, L.L.C.
“Oil and Gas. Contracts. Fraud. Punitive Damages. Issues involve alleged fraud and/or breach of contract in underpayment of oil and gas royalties pursuant to lease plus the propriety of imposing punitive damages.”
Discretionary Review granted 4/27/2016 and 8/17/2016
Bell Circuit Court, Judge Robert Costanzo
Attorneys for Appellants/Cross-Appellee: Michael D. Bowling, Virginia Hamilton Snell, Donald Joseph Kelly and Benjamin Todd Keller
Attorneys for Appellee/Cross-Appellant, Asher Land and Mineral, LTD: James C. Helton, Darrell L. Saunders and Michael J. Gartland
Attorney for Appellees, Vanguard Natural Resources, LLC and Vanguard Natural Gas, LLC: Mason L. Miller