Shelby County Pretrial Services has expanded its simple summons program, which sends defendants text message reminders about their court dates, the Commercial Appeal reports. All defendants released from custody pending court disposition are placed in the program if they provide a valid cellphone number. Before the program’s 2021 pilot, 73% of those eligible showed up for their court dates. As of this month, that number has risen to 97%. Pretrial services is now looking to add new features to the text messaging service, like allowing defendants to text back with questions that would be answered by staff.   

Join in this moderated virtual panel discussion featuring judges from across the state as they discuss best practices in the courtroom. Professional development topics include avoiding common mistakes when appearing in front of a judge, motion practices, judge preferences for oral arguments and/or briefs, and other insider thinking from the bench. This webcast replay is set for 3 p.m. CST on Dec. 30 and is approved for 1.5 dual CLE credits.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Dec. 21 officially adopted the rule establishing a three-judge panel to hear constitutional challenges to state laws, executive orders, regulations and legislative redistricting cases. The high court added Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 54 as an interim rule in June 2021 and adopted amendments to it in September 2021. Read the order adopting Rule 54.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Office of General Counsel is adding a senior historic preservation attorney to its team to support the Tennessee Historical Commission and its staff. This position covers a wide range of legal needs, including implementation of the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, acquisition and disposal of property, maintenance of historic sites, grant administration and procurement. More information on the position and instructions on how to apply can be found on the TBA’s JobLink site.

Disability Rights Tennessee has released a new report with recommendations on fixing the “broken youth justice system” at the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, Nashville’s WKRN reports.  The 17-page report's key recommendation proposes a "families not facilities" framework as the most successful and cost-effective way to prevent children from getting into the youth justice system in the first place—and to rehabilitate those already there. According to WPLN, the report gives six recommendations, including addressing racial and geographic disparities, creating community-based mental health services for youth and families, stopping the transfers of youth to the adult criminal justice system and more. Read the report.

Nashville firefighter Joshua Lipscomb is set to receive a $450,000 settlement after he was suspended from his city job for calling Nashville Council members “white supremacists” in a social media post, the Tennessean reports. Lipscomb was suspended for 16 days after a Nashville Fire Department panel determined his post violated policy. He then filed suit against the fire department in August, claiming the suspension was an unconstitutional restriction of his right to free speech. Lipscomb was represented by Tricia Herzfeld of Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings and Nashville civil rights attorney Abby Rubenfeld of Rubenfeld Law Office. “You don’t give up your rights to free speech just because you work for the government,” Herzfeld said in a release. Per the conditions of the settlement, Lipscomb must resign from his job, and the fire department policies at issue in the suit have been changed.  

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said yesterday that the decision on whether to file charges against police officers who shoot someone will no longer be made by assistant district attorneys, the Commercial Appeal reports. Instead, that decision will now fall to the county’s new Justice Review Unit – an independent body assembled to look at previous convictions and sentences to make sure they were correct and justly given. Mulroy announced the change during a speech marking his first 100 days in office. Mulroy also rebuked the idea that the Shelby County justice system is a “revolving door” during the speech, citing longer prison sentences and more juveniles tried in adult court as causes of people being repeat offenders.

Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon G. Lee recently presented awards to employees in the Tennessee Appellate Court’s Eastern Division for their years of service. The following employees were recognized: Missy McConkey, 25 years; Renee Hammond, 20 years; Jennifer Rosser, 15 years; Sally Goade, Tammy Capps and Rebekah Bradley, 10 years; and Daniel Parkhurst, Amy Sosinski and Lilas Taslimi, 5 years. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more pictures.

Don’t miss the webcast replay of “Frequently Encountered Issues in Legal Ethics 2022” on Dec. 28 from noon until 1 p.m. CST. Steven Christopher with the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility will cover commonly encountered ethical issues, including ghost-writing, attorney advertising, conflicts of interest and ethical concerns regarding pro bono representation. Register for the program here.

Throw on your best holiday sweater, grab some eggnog and settle in for a special holiday episode of the TBA BarBuzz podcast! Nashville attorney Courtney Leyes of Fisher Phillips co-hosts this month’s episode to discuss upcoming events at the TBA, legal news and special holiday traditions. BarBuzz is part of the TBA Podcast Network and is available on the TBA’s website or wherever you listen to podcasts.