Opinion ID: 725232
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: constitutional adequacy of the statute of repose

Text: 24 Although the Tennessee courts and the Sixth Circuit have repeatedly upheld the constitutionality of § 29-28-103, the Hayeses invite us to revisit that issue. The thrust of their argument is that since eight other states with similar statutes have declared those statutes unconstitutional, we should take another look at the constitutionality of Tennessee's statute. We decline to do so. Whether the statute violates the Tennessee Constitution is an issue better left to the state courts. Furthermore, the Hayeses raise no new issue relative to the United States Constitution meriting reconsideration. For the reasons espoused in the string of cases cited below, we uphold the constitutionality of this statute. Kochins v. Linden-Alimak, Inc., 799 F.2d 1128 (6th Cir.1986); Wayne v. Tennessee Valley Auth., 730 F.2d 392 (5th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1159 (1985); Mathis v. Eli Lilly & Co., 719 F.2d 134 (6th Cir.1983); Spence v. Miles Lab., Inc., 810 F.Supp. 952 (E.D.Tenn.1992), aff'd, 37 F.3d 1185 (6th Cir.1994); Via v. General Electric Co., 799 F.Supp. 837 (W.D.Tenn.1992); Stutts v. Ford Motor Co., 574 F.Supp. 100 (M.D.Tenn.1983); Hawkins v. D & J Press Co., 527 F.Supp. 386 (E.D.Tenn.1981); Buckner v. GAF Corp., 495 F.Supp. 351 (E.D.Tenn.1979); Jones v. Five Star Eng'g, Inc., 717 S.W.2d 882 (Tenn.1986); Harrison v. Schrader, 569 S.W.2d 822 (Tenn.1978); Wyatt v. A-Best Prod. Co., Inc., No. 03A01-9502-CV-00066, 1995 WL 702714 (Tenn.Ct.App. Nov. 30, 1995); King-Bradwell Partnership v. Johnson Controls, Inc., 865 S.W.2d 18, 22 (Tenn.Ct.App.1993).