Tennessee House of Representatives Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, each appointed five-member committees to consider removing Shelby County Criminal Court Division 9 Judge Melissa Boyd, which the Board of Judicial Conduct recommended in a Jan. 26 letter to the leaders. The Daily Memphian reports that removal is not an impeachment, which would begin with a vote by the House and proceed with a trial in the Senate. She would be removed with two-thirds votes by both the House and the Senate, but she would not be banned from running for reelection. Impeachment and conviction would prohibit her from running for office again with a two-thirds vote by the Senate.

Jason Autry, a key witness whose testimony helped convict Zachary Adams of Holly Bobo's murder in 2017, is now recanting his testimony. The Associated Press reports that Autry’s reversal was revealed in two petitions seeking post-conviction relief filed by Adams’ lawyer in Hardin County, where the trial took place. Adams, 39, wants his conviction thrown out based on Autry’s latest statements.

A bill sponsored by Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Eads, and Rep. John Gillespie, R-Memphis seeks transparency from progressive criminal-justice reform groups that work with local district attorneys. SB2561/HB2618 would require those groups, and other nonprofits that have contracts or memoranda of understanding with prosecutors, to disclose all of their donors from the previous calendar year, reports the Daily Memphian. “These restorative-justice outfits have an outsized role in our district attorney’s office," Taylor said in a committee hearing. They "are fundamentally changing how our judicial system operates in Shelby County.” Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, said he supported greater transparency for nonprofits working with governments but noted that the 2021 Personal Privacy Protection Act protects donors to all nonprofits. The act says state agencies cannot “require an entity exempt from federal income tax under § 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code to provide the names or other personal information of persons who have provided financial or nonfinancial support to the exempt entity."

The American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility has released a formal opinion that provides guidance on how disqualification rules apply to both current and former government lawyers' representation of private clients under the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Formal Opinion 509 interprets Model Rule 1.11, which relates to the conflict-of-interest provisions covering confidential government information. The opinion states that the rule continues to apply "regardless of whether the lawyer seeking to represent the private client has now left government employ or office or maintains a private law practice (e.g., a part-time practice) while still in government employ or office."

Join your colleagues March 6 at noon CST for a free TBA webinar that will address fundamental rules and best practices for ensuring that an appellate record is complete and suitable for the appellate courts in Tennessee. Attendees will learn about preserving issues for appeal, making sure crucial evidence as well as narrative background facts are properly admitted, and designating matters for inclusion in the appellate record. Learn more and register here.

Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined a coalition of state attorneys general this week in a legal brief arguing that Texas has a right to defend itself against invasion. The coalition of 24 state attorneys general, led by Kansas, filed the amicus brief in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals late last week. The attorneys general argue that the federal government has lost operational control of the southern border, and that Texas has a right to protect its citizens by constructing barriers along the border it shares with Mexico. Read the full press release.

The TBA YLD held an Essential Documents for Essential Workers (EDEW) clinic on Feb. 24. Volunteer attorneys and Belmont law students drafted wills, powers of attorney and advanced health care directives for low income clients, providing a total of $16,000 in free legal services. See a photo from the event.

Join us as we celebrate National Ethics Awareness Month on March 27 with three back-to-back ethics webcasts led by CLE performer Stuart Teicher. Starting at 9 a.m. CST, Teicher will host Learn by Doing: An Hour of Legal Writing Exercises, a look at how to improve your legal writing. At 10:15 a.m., Teicher will take up Airplane Etiquette and Attorney Ethics, followed by Taylor Swift is a Genius. Even About Legal Ethics at 11:30 a.m. Teicher will discuss how ethics rules have been invoked in some of Taylor Swift’s run ins with the legal system. Visit the individual event pages for more information and to register.

House Bill 1605 passed Monday with a vote of 70-24. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, would prohibit the display of any flags that “represent a political viewpoint, including but not limited to, a partisan, racial, sexual orientation, gender or other ideological viewpoint.” The bill does not explicitly prohibit the display of the Nazi or Confederate flags, reports the Tennessean. Bulso confirmed that he sponsored the bill on behalf of parents in his district who are concerned about display of the pride flags in Williamson County Schools classrooms. A companion bill could be up for a final vote in the Senate as early as Thursday, having passed the Senate Education Committee in a 5-4 vote last week. HB1183/SB0503, a wide-ranging amendment that would overhaul Tennessee's standardized testing requirements for public school students and make sweeping changes to teacher and principal accountability procedures, was filed Monday. The Tennessean reports that the new, 39-page House amendment is vastly different from a 17-page Senate version and Gov. Bill Lee's seven-page bill that more narrowly deals with school choice. A first committee hearing on the bill was scheduled for today in the House K-12 Subcommittee, and the Senate Education Committee is set to take up the bill on Wednesday afternoon.

The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Chattanooga Chapter, will host a live public forum on Facebook this Thursday at 7 p.m. EST to hear from local candidates for Criminal Court judge, Circuit Court judge, and School Board Districts 1, 2,4,7, 10 and 11. Questions welcome.