Several Tennessee Supreme Court justices and intermediate appellate judges on Monday joined other state leaders to help escort the three State of Tennessee Constitutions to the new State Library and Archives on Bicentennial Mall. The event began at the old library and archives next to the Nashville Supreme Court building, where Chief Justice Jeff Bivins, Justice Holly Kirby, Justice Roger A. Page, Court of Appeals Judge Andy D. Bennett, Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Tim Easter, and Court of Appeals Judge W. Neal McBrayer joined. The procession wound its way through the streets of Nashville where it was joined by Attorney General Herbert Slatery, Gov. Bill Lee and members of the General Assembly. The documents traveled in custom-made boxes to their new home where they will be displayed for a limited time after the grand opening and again on Statehood Day in the Library & Archives’ new exhibition space. 

A controversial bill that would block transgender student athletes from playing middle school and high school sports under their gender identity was passed in a 27-6 vote by the Senate last night, the Tennessean reports. The bill, SB228/HB3, would require transgender athletes to compete under their sex at birth, regardless of whether they are receiving gender-affirming care, such as hormone blockers. Following the vote, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee released a statement signaling its intent to take legal action “should any transgender student be excluded because of this legislation.” The bill will next go to the House for a final vote, which has not yet been scheduled.

The Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday suspended Richard Louis Reynolds from the practice of law until further orders. Reynolds pled guilty and was convicted of misprision of a felony in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas Dallas Division. The matter has been referred to the Board of Professional Responsibility to institute formal proceedings to determine the extent of the final discipline to be imposed upon Reynolds as a result of his convictions of misdemeanors and a serious crime.

The Tennessee Attorney General’s Division of Consumer Affairs today announced the top 10 complaint categories for 2020, with home improvements, repairs and warranties taking the number one slot at 497 complaints. Other categories in the top 10 were: price gouging, 343 complaints; personal/professional services, 329 complaints; landlord/tenant, 289 complaints; internet sales, 281 complaints; motor vehicle-used sales and advertising, 266 complaints; health services and products, 228 complaints; debtor/creditor, 225 complaints; timeshare/vacation clubs, 223 complaints; and travel, 183 complaints. DCA received 4,053 complaints total in 2020, a slight decrease from 2019’s 4,250 complaints.

The Governor’s Office is now accepting applications to fill the office of district attorney general for the 15th Judicial District. The position would be filled until the next biennial election in August 2022. Applicants must have been a resident of the state for five years and the judicial district for one year. The 15th Judicial District includes Jackson, Smith, Macon, Trousdale and Wilson counties. Interested attorneys should submit a resume and cover letter to Lang Wiseman, Deputy and Chief Counsel to the Governor, State Capitol, First Floor, 600 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Nashville, Tennessee 37243, or by emailing Rebecca Kaunisto. The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. CDT on March 15.

In preparation for the upcoming TBA Elections, profiles of the two candidates competing for the Sixth District House of Delegates seat will be emailed to members in the district on Thursday. Voting begins on Monday, and members should receive an email then with voting instructions. Ballots will come from the TBA.Election@intelliscanvotes.com email address, so please check your spam filters if you do not receive the email. Please feel free to reach out to elections@tnbar.org if you have any questions or concerns.

Distance communication is here to stay for a while, meaning new issues with both competence and communication. The CLE Performer Stuart Teicher is here to walk you through What to Watch Out For in a Post-COVID World Part 1: The 3 C's: Competence, Communication, and COVID. Don’t miss this webcast replay on March 4 from noon until 1 p.m. CST, worth one dual credit hour of CLE.  

Each year the Tennessee Bar Association recognizes outstanding service by attorneys and law students who have dedicated their time to helping others. The awards given are the Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year, the Ashley T. Wiltshire Public Service Attorney of the Year and the Law Student Volunteer of the Year. Read the stories of those recognized here.

Before she was known as a civil rights pioneer, Ida B. Wells was a plaintiff before the Tennessee Supreme Court in Chesapeake, Ohio & Southwestern Railroad Co. v. Wells, an 1884 case over discrimination on railroads. Wells sued the railroad after being violently forced to give up her seat in the first-class ladies car and was awarded $500 after a Memphis jury returned a verdict in her favor. The case made headlines, but after the railroad appealed to the state Supreme Court, the justices unanimously reversed the decision and assessed $200 in court costs against Wells. Wells then “turned her disappointment into determination” and soon after purchased a Memphis newspaper and began a new career as a journalist. As one historian wrote, “despite the setbacks, the resistance initiated by Wells became a symbol of African-American resistance to the Jim Crow laws of the South.” Wells would go on to fearlessly investigate and expose lynching, advocate for education and women’s suffrage and battle against segregation laws. Read more on Wells’ case in Russell Fowler’s article, “Ida B. Wells at the Tennessee Supreme Court,” from the November 2015 issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal and more about her life and upbringing in “Ida B. Wells,” by David Hudson from the August 2018 issue.

The American Bar Association is asking leaders of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees to support key legal reforms involving the federal courts, access to legal services, the criminal justice system and immigration. ABA President Patricia Lee Refo sent a second letter to leaders of the Senate and House Appropriations Committee urging them to support more money for the federal courts, Legal Services Corporation and rural broadband. Here is the letter to the Judiciary Committee and the letter to the Appropriations Committee.