U.S. senators are urging colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass bipartisan legislation aimed at boosting privacy and safety for children online before the holiday break. U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, have spent years working on the "Kids Online Safety Act," which seeks to provide children and parents with better tools to protect themselves online and hold tech companies accountable for harm. The bill passed the Senate earlier this year with a 91-3 vote but has stalled in the House. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, along with a group of 31 state attorneys general, urged congressional members in a November letter to pass the legislation. According to WKRN News, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, has not allowed a vote on the bill, citing concerns it could lead to censorship of conservative views. Blackburn, however, argues the legislation focuses on product design, not content. "Every product that is sold in this country has some kind of safety design attached, except what you're seeing in the virtual space," she said.

County music artist Morgan Wallen pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor reckless endangerment Thursday stemming from an April incident in which he threw a chair off the roof of Eric Church’s Lower Broadway bar. According to NBC News, the deal calls for Wallen to spend seven days at a “DUI education center” followed by two years of probation. In related news, Wallen's bar is set to be a topic of discussion at next week’s Nashville Metro Council meeting, according to the Nashville Banner newsletter (see the third story). The council again will consider whether to approve a large sign planned for Wallen’s Lower Broadway establishment. The council rejected a resolution on the sign in May, with members highlighting Wallen’s recent arrest for the chair incident, as well as the time he was caught on camera shouting racial slurs.

Hamilton County is launching a new recovery court aimed at veterans involved in the criminal justice system, officials announced Wednesday. County Mayor Weston Wamp, Criminal Court Judge Boyd Patterson and General Sessions Court Judge Gary Starnes introduced the Hamilton County Veterans Treatment Court, which will address the specific needs of veterans in the system. Wamp said in a news release that the program furthers the county's commitment to supporting those who have served in defense of American values. The county allocated funding in this year's budget for a case manager to oversee the court and plans to pursue grant funding to sustain and expand the program in the future, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The court will handle misdemeanor cases and certain felony offenses, such as assault, drunk driving and theft, but will not hear felony cases related to crimes such as child abuse or sexual assault.

Hernandez Govan, the man accused of masterminding the 2021 death of Memphis rapper, Young Dolph, rejected a plea deal from prosecutors Friday. The case is now set to go to trial, with proceedings scheduled to begin July 28, 2025, according to the Commercial Appeal. Govan's decision comes months after Justin Johnson was convicted of first-degree murder for his involvement in the killing. Govan will face trial on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and attempted first-degree murder. By rejecting the plea deal, Govan is prohibited from taking another plea offer before the trial.

Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, introduced a bill this week that would require the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) to revise its bylaws, allowing athletes one free transfer without eligibility restrictions. Under the current TSSAA transfer rule, student-athletes who move to a school in a different zone are ineligible for one calendar year following their last varsity game, unless they have a bona fide change of address. Cepicky’s bill would make it illegal for public schools to be part of any athletic association that enforces such eligibility restrictions. According to The Tennessean, Cepicky predicts that the bill will be ready for consideration in February. In related news, the TSSAA Legislative Council tabled all transfer-related rule proposals during its regular meeting Thursday in anticipation of the upcoming legislative session in January as a number of members have expressed concerns. The council has tentatively scheduled a special meeting for Feb. 4, 2025.

A federal grand jury recently returned an indictment charging Catherine Corrine Daly with embezzlement from a Memphis law firm. According to the indictment, Daly was office manager at a law firm where she had access to the firm’s bank accounts, including the operating account. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee, Daly had two American Express (AmEx) charge accounts in her name and a total of five AmEx charge cards issued through the two accounts to her and two of her relatives. Daly is alleged to have used money in the firm’s operating account to pay off amounts due on those personal AmEx accounts. In total, she is alleged to have embezzled $1.2 million of the law firm’s funds for her own use. The U.S. Secret Service is investigating while Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Murphy is prosecuting the case.

The state lost two civil rights leaders this week. Knoxville native Yolande Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni, a poet, civil rights legend and educator, died Monday at the age of 81 after her third cancer diagnosis. Giovanni attended Fisk University in Nashville and rose to prominence during the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. She later taught for 35 years in the English Department at Virginia Tech, according to the Tennessee Lookout. Just two days later, on Wednesday, Vencen Horsley, a Nashville civil rights leader and community advocate, died. Horsley was a prominent figure in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, peacefully demonstrating alongside the late Rep. John Lewis during Nashville’s sit-in movement. WKRN has more on his life.

A Tennessee Bar Journal article from the November/December 2024 issue about the Corporate Transparency Act featured in today’s issue of TBJ Select — an electronic newsletter sent to TBA members twice a month as a compliment to the print publication — was published on Nov. 1, well before a federal judge in Texas issued a nationwide injunction blocking its enforcement. The injunction from U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant earlier this month, reported in the Dec. 4 issue of TBA Today, halts enforcement of the act while a challenge from the National Federation of Independent Business and several small businesses and nonprofits makes its way through the legal process. 

The TBA's continuing efforts to provide education and resources related to our state's system of appointed counsel includes our Indigent Representation Primer series, which shares background and updates about indigent representation in Tennessee. So far, the series has covered basics about indigent representation and Tennessee's system of appointed counsel, including the types of cases that qualify; different models for providing indigent defense, as well as the benefits and challenges of different approaches; the criteria used by courts to determine when an attorney should be appointed; and the specific role of guardians ad litem in the context of indigent defense. Read the next primer update in Friday's TBA Today.

State Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and the nonprofit Adoption Project are teaming up to boost public awareness about “adoption facilitators”: unlicensed, unregulated persons or entities that act as middlemen between expectant birth parents and adoptive parents. The groups say these “matchmakers” — who often are from out of state and charge large, nonrefundable upfront fees — are an increasing problem in the state. Skrmetti spoke to the issue in a video released last month as part of National Adoption Month. Local News 3 has more on the story.