IMMEDIATE RELEASE — David Tulis (423) 544-2285 davidtuliseditor@gmail.com
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Monday, Oct 5, 2026 — Radio investigative reporter David Tulis has filed a lawsuit that he says will overturn a long-standing program that contradicts “the form of government in Tennessee and the duty to respect innocent members of the traveling public.”
“What this lawsuit does is force the commissioner of safety to wake up, take charge of traffic and handle traffic cases in his department rather than offloading them to the counties and have people abused under criminal prosecution,” says Tulis, who runs NoogaRadio Network and a law blog. “Commissioner of safety Jeff Long has illicitly refused to do his duty in gross negligence and violation of public trust.”
Tulis files the suit to decriminalize traffic stops with the commissioner himself, complying with the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies.
“Jeff Long has been insanely neglectful of his duty to hear traffic cases within the department,” Tulis says. “The state has a duty to bring every traffic-related grievance against a person in privilege to the commissioner for a hearing. The state cannot bypass this bureaucratic infrastructure to prosecute speeders or people who run stop signs in criminal court. The state cannot prosecute me criminally and jail me for a damaged taillight like it did in 2023. These are not criminal matters. These are administrative matters that the commissioner has neglected to handle,” Tulis says.
Driving and operating a motor vehicle constitute a privilege, he says. Allegations of wrongdoing in every privilege, from plumbing to real estate appraisal, from knee surgery to embalming, he says, are heard in their respective boards.
“It is a violation of our order of government to criminally prosecute grandma and put her in jail for ‘driving on a suspended license.’ The loss of the state is less than a penny a day. No injury. No real wrong has been done. And no evidence adduced of cargo or passengers,” Tulis says.
“The commissioner of safety has overthrown the doctrine of the exhaustion of administrative remedies. He refuses to comply with the uniform administrative procedures act. He has abrogated the separation of powers created in our constitution by letting prosecutors and criminal judges ‘administer’ the motor vehicle laws,” Tulis says.
“Cops don’t cuff hairdressers for failing to keep the comb long enough in the germicide. Knee surgeons are not dragged off the operating room for ‘surgery on suspended.’ Lawyers are not keelhauled from their cars for failing to file a motion timely. Every profession is controlled by a board. Every dispute is heard under the uniform administrative procedures act,” Tulis says. “Same with the motor vehicle privilege.”
“The people of Tennessee have been wrongly criminalized in their exercise and enjoyment of the motor vehicle privilege since at least 1939,” Tulis says. “I take Jeff Long to court to end this extraordinary invidious class discrimination against holders of privilege in the motor vehicle trade.”
The petition was served Sept. 25.
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David Tulis
NoogaRadio Network
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(423) 544-2285 c
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