In a new opinion piece for the Tennessean, Brentwood attorney and TBA member Ed Miller writes of his recent analysis of death sentences in Tennessee since 1977 when the death penalty was reinstated. After identifying 2,838 adults convicted of first-degree murder, Miller breaks down and compares the sentences imposed on defendants convicted of murdering a single victim and those convicted of murdering multiple victims. He writes that of the 2,460 defendants with one victim, only 55 have been sentenced to death. Miller says he also identified 335 multiple-victim murderers who were sentenced to life with or without he possibility of parole—six times the number of single-murder defendants who have been sentenced to death. “This demonstrates that a death sentence is not a comparatively proportional punishment for the murder of a single victim,” Miller writes. Read the opinion piece for Miller’s full breakdown of his research.

A move to cut Division II of Chattanooga City Court has been delayed by the city council, the Chattanoogan reports. Councilwoman Demetrus Coonrod prompted the delay after raising a number of issues and suggesting the focus be on City Court’s improvement and not its elimination. The councilwoman suggested moving Drug Court and Mental Health Court to the City Court. Coonrod also suggested allowing City Court to handle minor drug cases as part of an effort to keep people out of jail and "decriminalize" certain crimes such as marijuana use. Council Chairman Chip Henderson last week proposed the elimination of Division II, saying it would save taxpayers $500,000 a year and could easily be absorbed by Division I. 

Maurice Wexler, longtime attorney at Baker Donelson in Memphis, died Tuesday. He was 89. Wexler served in the Counterintelligence Corps of the U.S. Army during the Korean War before earning his law degree from Loyola University Chicago. He was then recruited by Lewis Donelson to return to Memphis where he would become a founding shareholder of Baker Donelson. Wexler practiced law for 55 years, concentrating on labor and employment law as well as general business litigation. A graveside funeral will be held in Memphis tomorrow at 9 a.m. CDT at Temple Israel Cemetary, 1708 Hernando Rd. The service will also be livestreamed here. Shiva will be held outdoors at the Wexler home at 6682 Monmouth Dr. in Memphis from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday and from 10 a.m. until noon on Friday. The family asks that all in person visitors for the service and shiva are masked and fully vaccinated. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, National Civil Rights Museum or Temple Israel General Fund.

Recent Vanderbilt Law School graduate Ramon Ryan has been selected for the 2021 Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE) program. Ryan, who will soon join Nashville’s Bass Berry & Sims as an associate, was one of only 16 law graduates chosen for the program. FASPE engages early-career professionals and graduate students in the fields of law, business, journalism, medicine and seminary in an intensive course of study focused on contemporary ethical issues in their professions. Fellows typically participate in a two-week program in Germany and Poland, which uses the conduct of lawyers in Nazi-occupied Europe as a way to reflect on legal ethics today. Ryan was the editor-in-chief of the Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law and last year authored a paper on satellites that prompted federal legislation. He is set to clerk for Judge Todd Hughes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit starting in 2023.

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday chose not to intervene in a lower court’s ruling that revived the “Remain in Mexico” policy, an immigration measure from former President Donald Trump’s administration, The Hill reports. President Joe Biden had sought to block the reinstatement of the policy, which requires asylum-seekers at the southern border to stay in Mexico while their applications are processed. Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the order that Biden’s administration had failed to show it was likely to ultimately prevail in defending the lawfulness of its decision to rescind the Trump measure, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). The program was initially reinstated by a federal judge in Texas in response to a lawsuit from the attorneys general of Texas and Missouri. That decision was later upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, prompting Biden’s emergency request to the justices.

The final installment of the TBA’s video series on quick tips for attorney well-being covers stress relief. Attorneys are faced with specific stressors and licensed psychotherapist Lindsey O’Connell offers several quick and easy techniques you can use to help control your stress level. One technique O’Connell offers is sensory integration. Sit still and focus on one sense at a time—what do you hear? See? Feel? Focusing in on one sense and taking note of how you feel in the moment helps ground you in the present and resets your thoughts. Watch the short video for additional tips and make sure to catch all episodes in the series on the TBA’s YouTube page.

A Bedford County man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly assaulting a law enforcement officer during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, Nashville’s News Channel 5 reports. Ronald Colton McAbee of Unionville was indicted on four charges related to the riot, including assault, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon. He is one of 16 Tennesseans who have been arrested for their role in the incident.

More than 100 former and current prosecutors and law enforcement officials are calling on President Joe Biden to fulfill his campaign promise of creating a task force to evaluate how criminal cases are prosecuted in the U.S., the Associated Press reports. The task force included in Biden’s criminal justice platform would look at prosecutorial discretion and its impact on sentencing, parole and probation and plea deals. In a letter to the Biden administration, the group noted much of the discussion around criminal justice reforms neglects to address the importance of prosecutors in the system and policy changes such as ending cash bail and declining to prosecute smaller crimes as ways to address racial inequity, persistent poverty and over incarceration. 

Attorneys Bill Haltom and John P. Williams, in a new opinion piece for the Commercial Appeal, suggest that three state representatives who were essential in the ratification of the 19th Amendment be honored in the space that once housed the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the state Capitol. Despite strong opposition, state Reps. Joseph Hanover, Banks Turner and Harry Burn helped pass the 19th Amendment in 1920, guaranteeing American women the right to vote. Haltom and Williams, alongside Paula Casey and Tyler Boyd, write that busts of the three men, two of which have already been sculpted, should be placed in the space that sits empty after the busts of Nathan Bedford Forrest, Admiral David Farragut and Albert Gleaves were moved to the State Museum. “The placement of these busts in the State Capitol will tell the story for future generations to know that the 19th Amendment would not have passed without the efforts of these three legislators,” they write. Read the full article here.

An attorney for Gregory Livingston, the Kroger security guard accused of fatally shooting Alvin Motley over loud music, is asking a judge to prevent the release of any videos associated with the incident, the Daily Memphian reports. Livingston’s attorney Leslie Ballin told Shelby County General Sessions Court Judge Louis Montesi that three videos reportedly from the night of the shooting should be barred from release because they “could have the potential to affect the jury pool” in the case. Ronald Dowdy and David Jones, two Davidson County assistant district attorneys, are prosecuting the case for the state after Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich recused her office because of a conflict. Dowdy and Jones asked the court to not issue the protective order at this time because their plan to show the video to Motley’s family members, some of whom live out-of-state, would violate the order.