Tennessee
Tennessee will not appeal ruling over wildlife agents planting cameras
In May, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled against the state after wildlife agents trespassed onto private land and planted cameras to look for hunting violations. This week, the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office declined to file an appeal, meaning the ruling is affirmed. It’s a good first step in reclaiming Americans’ property rights.
State law allows officers of the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency (TWRA)—or any other state or federal wildlife agency—to “go upon any property, outside of buildings, posted or otherwise,” in order to “enforce all laws relating to wildlife.” As Reason first reported in 2022, TWRA agents interpreted this directive to trespass onto private lands at will; in at least two cases, agents then coordinated with federal wildlife officers to plant trail cameras without a warrant and without the property owner’s knowledge or permission. One man who found a camera on his land took it down, at which point agents raided his home and arrested him for “stolen government property.”
Under Supreme Court precedent dating back to a century-old Prohibition case, “open fields” do not receive the same constitutional protections as a person’s home and the “curtilage,” the area immediately around the home. In Hester v. United States (1924), Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote that “the protection accorded by the Fourth Amendment to the people in their ‘persons, houses, papers, and effects,’ does not extend to open fields.”
The two Tennessean property owners sued in 2022, claiming that the state law violated the Tennessee Constitution. Article I, Section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution uses very similar language to the Fourth Amendment—only swapping out “effects” with “possessions”—but goes even further, adding “that general warrants, whereby an officer may be commanded to search suspected places, without evidence of the fact committed, or to seize any person or persons not named, whose offences are not particularly described and supported by evidence, are dangerous to liberty and ought not be granted.”
The district court agreed, finding that “Tennessee’s prohibition on unreasonable searches offers a broader guarantee of security for an individual’s real property than its federal counterpart.”
The state appealed the ruling, and in May 2024, the Tennessee Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s ruling. While the appeals court stopped short of finding the state law unconstitutional, as the district court had done, it nonetheless found the TWRA’s application of it “a disturbing assertion of power on behalf of the government that stands contrary to the foundations of the search protections against arbitrary governmental intrusions in the American legal tradition, generally, and in Tennessee, specifically.”
To appeal a judgment to the state supreme court, Tennessee code provides “60 days after the entry of the judgment.” The deadline for the state to appeal the decision in this case passed on July 9. (The Tennessee Attorney General’s office did not respond to Reason‘s request for comment.) As a result, the decision is now settled law in the state, although a separate case could make its way to the state supreme court in the future.
The ruling is great news for Tennesseans, as is the state’s decision to let it stand. It provides further protection against unwarranted intrusion and surveillance at the hands of government agents. But it’s only the first step in undoing a century of harmful jurisprudence.
After all, the ruling only applies to the state constitution, leaving the open fields doctrine untouched. As a result, any federal wildlife agent is still free to come onto your land with impunity and even plant cameras at will, so long as they keep a distance from your home.
The practice also varies by state law. As Reason documented in 2022, some states will only plant cameras on private property with a warrant or the owner’s permission, while others claim free rein to come onto private land and place cameras.
All is not lost: Tennessee joins several other states that have affirmed greater privacy protections than the Fourth Amendment allows. As far back as 1970, the Mississippi Supreme Court decided in Davidson v. State, “This right to be secure from invasions of privacy by government officials is a basic freedom in our Federal and State constitutional systems.” In 2018, the Vermont Supreme Court affirmed in State v. Dupuis that “Vermont’s Constitution establishes greater protection against search and seizure of ‘open fields’ than the U.S. Constitution, requiring that law enforcement officers secure warrants before searching open fields when the landowner demonstrates an expectation of privacy.”
See Dolly Parton celebrate Tennessean Travel Stop grand opening
The country music legend opened the first location of her Tennessean Travel Stop in Cornersville, Tennessee.
CORNERSVILLE, Tenn. — Out on the street, the traffic started jumpin’ as travelers made their way to Dolly Parton’s Tennessean Travel Stop on opening day.
“Dolly is on her way,” Tennessean Travel Stop owner Gregory Sachs told the media gathered at the new truck destination in Cornersville, saying Parton would cut the ribbon at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24.
The anticipation had been building all morning at the new roadside destination along Interstate 65. The 80-year-old country legend arrived wearing a blue-and-pink fringe ensemble, complete with her signature stiletto heels.
The “9 to 5” singer used the moment to make a playful quip about travel stop competitor Buc-ee’s.
“I’m sure some of you want to know why I wanted a truck stop,” Parton said. “Well, I couldn’t leave it to beavers.”
Parton ended the brief ceremony with a ribbon cutting, marked by an explosion of multicolored confetti featuring her signature butterfly.
The message drew cheers from guests who had spent the afternoon exploring the property, sampling food from DLY BBQ and trying a “Cup of Ambition” coffee, waiting to see whether Parton would make an appearance. Earlier promotional materials for the grand opening had stated that the country music icon would not attend the public festivities.
The appearance marks one of only a handful of public events for Parton in 2026.
In March, the East Tennessee star returned to Dollywood to launch the theme park’s 41st season after stepping back from several appearances while recovering from health issues and grieving the death of her husband, Carl Dean. During that appearance, Parton told fans she had been rebuilding herself “spiritually, emotionally and physically.”
Parton, who has been open about dealing with kidney stones, said in May that she is working with doctors after “my immune system and my digestive system got all out of whack over the past three years.”
What is Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop?
Located at Exit 22 off Interstate 65 in Cornersville, Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop officially opened to the public on June 24. The flagship location is a partnership between Parton, her longtime manager Danny Nozell and Gregory H. Sachs, owner of the Tennessean Travel Stop brand.
Inspired by Parton’s decades spent traveling the country by tour bus and her East Tennessee roots, the destination combines fuel services, food, shopping, live music and Tennessee-themed hospitality.
Bryan West is a music reporter at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.
ESPN projects Tennessee basketball’s Felix Okpara and Ja’Kobi Gillespie to be picked back to back in the second round of the NBA Draft on Wednesday night. ESPN’s updated mock draft has Okpara at No. 41 overall to the Miami Heat and Gillespie at No. 42 to the San Antonio Spurs.
Nate Ament was the No. 13 overall pick in the first round to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday. Tennessee, which has now had players picked in six straight NBA Drafts, could have three players drafted for just the second time in the modern era of the draft, since it went to two rounds in 1989.
Grant Williams was a first-round pick in 2019, ahead of Admiral Schofield and Jordan Bone being picked in the second round.
Where ESPN ranks Felix Okpara, Ja’Kobi Gillespie in NBA Draft
Entering the second round, ESPN has Okpara ranked as the 12th-best player available in the draft. Gillespie is ranked No. 14.
Duke guard Isaiah Evans is ESPN’s No. 1 prospect to start the second round, ahead of North Carolina center Henri Veesaar, Arkansas guard Meleek Thomas, Cincinnati forward Baba Miller, Louisville guard Ryan Conwell and German guard Jack Kayil.
Also ranked ahead of Okpara is BYU guard Richie Saunders, Houston guard Emanuel Sharp, Purdue guard Braden Smith, St. John’s forward Dillon Mitchell and Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile. Ranked between Okpara and Gillespie is Arizona guard Jaden Bradley.
Felix Okpara ‘played his way into the two-way contract mix’
Okpara averaged 8.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 26.9 minutes per game this season, starting 34 of 35 games. He shot 59.7% from the field, 61.1% on 2-point shots and 63.5% at the foul line.
He played two seasons at Ohio State before transferring to Tennessee and anchoring the Vols on defense, serving as the rim protector defensively and a rim runner on offense.
Okpara had the fourth-highest standing reach at the NBA Draft Combine in May at 9-foot-4. He was measured at 6-foot-10 without shoes, weighed 237.4 pounds and had a 7-2 wingspan.
“Okpara had a good predraft process,” ESPN wrote, “and played his way into the two-way contract mix as a dependable big man who chips in a little bit of value on both ends.”
Ja’Kobi Gillespie ‘profiles as a potential bench option’ in NBA
Gillespie averaged 18.4 points, 5.4 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 34.8 minutes per game while starting all 37 games in his one and only season at Tennessee.
The Greeneville, Tenn., native started his career with two seasons at Belmont, then transferred to Maryland before his homecoming with the Vols as a senior last season.
“After starting his college career at Belmont,” ESPN wrote on Wednesday, “Gillespie had good years at Maryland and Tennessee while playing his way into the NBA picture. He profiles as a potential bench option if his scoring ability can outweigh his size concerns.”
Nate Ament on Tuesday night became Tennessee basketball’s highest NBA Draft pick since Marcus Haislip in 2002 when Ament, the former one-and-done five-star freshman wing for the Vols, was the No. 13 overall pick in the first round when he was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks.
Haislip also was taken No. 13 by the Bucks.
Ament is the 13th first-round pick in Tennessee program history and the fifth under Rick Barnes. Dalton Knecht was the No. 17 overall pick to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2024, Grant Williams was the No. 22 overall pick to the Boston Celtics in 2019 and both Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer were first-round picks in 2021, with Johnson at No. 21 to the Los Angeles Clippers and Springer at No. 28 to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Vols have had three players in program history picked in the top 10, but none since 1983.
Tennessee in the NBA Draft’s 1st Round
| Pick | Player | Draft Year | Team |
| No. 4 | Tom Boerwinkle | 1968 | Chicago Bulls |
| No. 7 | Bernard King | 1977 | New York Nets |
| No. 9 | Dale Ellis | 1983 | Dallas Mavericks |
| No. 11 | Ernie Grunfeld | 1977 | Milwaukee Bucks |
| No. 11 | Allan Houston | 1993 | Detroit Pistons |
| No. 13 | Marcus Haislip | 2002 | Milwaukee Bucks |
| No. 15 | Reggie Johnson | 1980 | San Antonio Spurs |
| No. 17 | Dalton Knecht | 2024 | LA Lakers |
| No. 19 | Tobias Harris | 2011 | Milwaukee Bucks |
| No. 21 | Keon Johnson | 2021 | LA Clippers |
| No. 22 | Grant Williams | 2019 | Boston Celtics |
| No. 28 | Jaden Springer | 2021 | Philadelphia 76ers |
Nate Ament was ranked as a top-10 prospect in the NBA Draft
Ament entered draft week ranked as both a top-10 prospect in the draft and a projected top-10 pick.
He moved up one spot in ESPN’s final NBA mock draft on Monday, going from No. 10 to the Milwaukee Bucks to No. 9 to the Dallas Mavericks. He was No. 9 overall on ESPN’s ranking of the best players available entering the draft.
“The Nets at No. 6 are seen as the high end,” Woo wrote, “but scenarios are also in play in which he falls into the second half of the lottery. Teams say he has been selective about scheduling workouts, declining to visit multiple teams in the top 10.
“The Mavericks and Bucks are two possible landing spots. If those teams go a different direction, he could slide.”
Nate Ament’s one-and-done season at Tennessee
Ament averaged 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 35 games during his lone season with the Vols. He started in all 35 games he played and averaged 29.7 minutes per game while shooting 39.9% from the field and 33.3% from the 3-point line.
He was the No. 3 overall player in the 2025 class in the On3 recruiting rankings and was the No. 2 small forward in the country and the No. 1 overall player in the state of Virginia.
Ament is the highest-ranked prospect that Rick Barnes has added during his tenure at Tennessee and is believed to one of the highest-ranked recruits to sign with the Vols, alongside Tobias Harris and Allan Houston.
-
Minnesota3 minutes agoVance Boelter’s sentencing date set in deadly Minnesota lawmaker shootings
-
Mississippi10 minutes agoMississippi youth court law puts families' rights at risk, lawsuit says
-
Missouri12 minutes agoFour years after Dobbs, Missouri abortion fight continues in court, ballotbox
-
Montana18 minutes agoUpdate: Missing family found safe north of Butte
-
Nebraska25 minutes agoTour de Nebraska bicycle ride begins five-day route in Hartington
-
Nevada27 minutes agoNV Energy issues PSOM watch for northern, eastern Nevada amid elevated fire weather
-
New Hampshire32 minutes agoCharlevoix County farm arson suspect arrested in New Hampshire after January blaze
-
New Jersey40 minutes agoMinnesota woman struck by worker while protesting outside of New Jersey ICE facility
