At least eight more people have come forward to accuse a Memphis man of pretending to be an attorney and scamming them out of thousands of dollars, WREG reports. The station first reported on Glenis “Chip” Campbell’s arrest in February. At the time, he was charged with three counts of impersonating a licensed professional and two counts of theft of property in three different cases. Since then, new victims have come forward with one individual saying he was scammed out of $25,000 and another saying he paid Campbell $43,000 over a five-year period to represent him. Campbell is now facing 20 charges in 11 cases. He is being held in the Shelby County Jail on a $283,500 bond.

In oral arguments today, U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical of a challenge to how the Biden administration encouraged social media platforms to remove posts that federal officials deemed misinformation, Reuters reports. The case is testing whether the administration crossed the line from mere communication and persuasion to strong-arming or coercing platforms to unlawfully censor speech about topics such as elections and COVID-19. A lower court had imposed a preliminary injunction on how White House and other federal officials communicate with social media platforms. The Supreme Court paused that order last fall. Also today, the court hard arguments over whether a New York state official can be sued for violating the National Rifle Association's constitutional free speech rights after he allegedly pressured banks and insurers to avoid doing business with the group. Read more about that case here.

A bill making its way through the Tennessee legislature would require some domestic violence offenders to wear GPS monitoring devices so survivors can tell if they are nearby. If enacted, the bill would allow courts to require offenders to avoid contact with survivors and wear GPS tracking devices before allowing release on bond. The bill would apply to people arrested for stalking, aggravated stalking or especially aggravated stalking, as well as any kind of offense specifically against another person, such as assault, kidnapping or rape. Survivors also would have the opportunity to pay for an app that notifies them if offenders are near their location. SB1972/HB2692 has passed committees in both the Senate and House and has been placed behind the budget since it contains a $65,800 fiscal note. WBIR has the story.

The TBA Administrative Law Section is accepting submissions for its annual writing competition for law students. All students enrolled in a Tennessee law school during the 2023–2024 school year are eligible to enter. Submissions are due March 27. The section offers this yearly competition to promote an interest in and understanding of both state and federal administrative law, and to strengthen the relationship among administrative law professors, law students and practitioners in Tennessee. The winning submission will be published in the Administrative Law Section newsletter and the winner will be awarded $1,000. Get more information and competition rules in this handout.

A story in Friday’s issue of TBA Today included reporting from the Memphis Commercial Appeal that the University of Memphis School of Law was considering former Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland as its next dean. The paper also indicated that current Dean Katharine T. Schaffzin had not announced her intention to step down from that post. The paper has now corrected its story to clarify that although the school has not announced Schaffzin’s exit, Schaffzin emailed the law school community of her intention in August 2023. In that email — which until now has not been publicly reported on — she wrote, "My family and I have made Memphis our home for the past fourteen years and plan to remain Tigers. I will continue my service as dean throughout this academic year and, after a sabbatical, plan to return to the classroom preparing competent litigators for the practice of law."

The TBA Young Lawyers Division's Rookie's Guide series continues next week with a session focused on estate planning. Join Memphis attorney Danielle Woods on March 28 at noon CDT to learn more about this practice area. Topics will include drafting a will, creating a trust and protecting assets. Register here.

A special committee of House and Senate members has unanimously recommended removing Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Melissa Boyd from the bench, the Commercial Appeal reports. The move comes after the state Board of Judicial Conduct issued a public reprimand to Boyd for refusing to undergo counseling after admitting to using marijuana and cocaine. The board referred the case to the General Assembly, which has the sole authority to remove judges from office. Representatives of the board were at the hearing to answer questions. In related news, Boyd has separately pleaded not guilty to charges of witness coercion and harassment.

The state Senate Education Committee approved a bill yesterday that would vacate the board of trustees of the historically Black Tennessee State University (TSU) by June 30 and authorize Gov. Bill Lee to appoint eight of the board’s 10 members. The other two positions would be filled by a student and faculty representative. The move comes after the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury recommended a change in leadership, the president stepped down and other reviews found the school was underfunded by more than $2.1 billion over the past 30 years. The board, to no avail, had asked state lawmakers for more time to address outstanding issues and find a new president. The Nashville Scene reports on developments.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has suspended Florida lawyer Joy T. Reid from the practice of law in Tennessee for 60 days. The court reports that Reid applied for comity admission to the Tennessee bar, but that during review of her application for admission, the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners discovered that she appeared to be holding herself out as a currently licensed Tennessee attorney. The Tennessee Board of Law Examiners conducted a show cause hearing during which Reid made misstatements of material fact. She agreed to a conditional guilty plea acknowledging her conduct violated Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct 5.5, 7.1 and 8.4(c).

U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Amy Coney Barrett addressed the Civic Learning Week National Forum at The George Washington University earlier this week to discuss the state of relations among the justices in the wake of several high-profile and controversial rulings — including one that rejected state efforts to remove former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot. The justices united to promote civility even in the midst of disagreements. They said the need for civil debate has never been greater than it is in these polarized times, and that the court, where voices do not get raised in anger, can be a model for the rest of the country. “We do not interrupt one another, and we never raise voices,” Barrett said. The Washington Post has a recap of the event while PBS Newshour has video of the presentation.