Shelby County officials this week announced it will double the capacity of the Mental Health Court using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, the Daily Memphian reports. Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said the court “can change lives.” He added that “Investment in access to mental health resources can help reduce crime in our community.” Shelby County Mental Health Court was established in 2016 and provides health care, counseling, housing assistance and employment assistance as an alternative to incarceration. People with severe mental illness and who have been charged with a nonviolent crime qualify for the court.

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals has granted a new trial for a Giles County man who was convicted by an all-white jury in a room with Confederate flag tributes, the ABA Journal reports. The appeals court overturned the aggravated assault charge conviction of Tim Gilbert, a Black man, for two reasons: first because the Confederate memorabilia present in the jury’s deliberation room amounts to prejudicial extraneous information; and second because a trial judge had improperly admitted a prosecution witness’s inconsistent statement to police to support the government’s case. The state argued that Gilbert was acquitted by jurors using the same room in an unrelated case, but the appeals court ruled that was not sufficient to rebut the presumption of prejudice. A circuit court judge last year denied Gilbert’s motion for a new trial.

U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger last week ordered eight men be removed from the state’s sex offender registry, admonishing the state for its retroactive enforcement of some sex offender laws, the Associated Press reports. Trauger pointed to a previous ruling in the Middle District in which a judge ordered two men be removed from the registry, finding it was unconstitutional to subject them to sex offender laws that were written after they committed their offenses. “Tennessee officials continue to flout the Constitution’s guarantees,” Trauger wrote. The state argued all eight men should be kept on the registry as a matter of public safety, but Trauger ruled the state did not provide enough meaningful evidence to suggest the plaintiffs pose a threat.

Two webcasts produced by the TBA Business Law Section are set to premiere this month. New Online Filing Requirements with the Secretary of State, set to air on Dec. 13 from 1 to 2 p.m. CST, will offer a demonstration of the state’s new mandatory filing system for documents pertaining to businesses and charities. Relational Contracts & the Pandemic: Guidance for Practitioners is scheduled for Dec. 15 from noon until 1 p.m. CST and will feature information on relational contracts and relational contracting and assess the utility and desirability of using relational contracting in times of uncertainty. Use the prepaid CLE credits that come with your TBA Complete Membership to save on this course. Not a TBA member? Join now to start saving.

The Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments is meeting today and tomorrow at 9 a.m. CST to consider 10 applicants for the open vacancy on the Tennessee Supreme Court. The council will interview William Blaylock, Sarah Campbell, Kristi M. Davis, Timothy L. Easter, Kelvin D. Jones, William Neal McBrayer, J. Douglas Overbey, Jonathan T. Skrmetti, Gingeree Smith and Jeffrey Usman during the two-day hearing. An eleventh candidate, Robert F. Parsley, withdrew his application for the seat. Anyone may attend the public hearings in the Tennessee Room of the Tennessee State Library and Archives located at 1001 Rep. John Lewis Way North, Nashville, Tennessee 37219. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more information on the event.

Gov. Bill Lee today granted executive clemency to 17 people, marking the first time the governor has used clemency power, the Tennessean reports. Lee issued 13 pardons to people who are no longer incarcerated and three commutations to immediate parole eligibility. He also fully exonerated a Grundy County man who was convicted of a 2006 murder the state now recognizes he did not commit. The governor also announced a new clemency process for people who were convicted of drug offenses in school zones before September 2020. Drug offenses within 1,000 feet of a school, library, park, daycare center or recreational center were subject to harsh mandatory minimum sentences until 2020 legislation changed the radius to 500 feet and required mandatory minimums only be used when children were exposed during the offense. Lee’s office released data showing 335 people currently incarcerated "drug-free school zone offenses" and are now eligible to have their cases reviewed under the new process.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee, the Wharton firm and Memphis advocacy group Just City are demanding that Shelby County fix its cash bail system or risk a lawsuit, the Commercial Appeal reports. In a letter addressed to multiple judicial and government officials, including Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich, the groups ask for a mediated discussion to be held prior to the end of January 2022. The letter proposes reforms of the bail system, including ensuring those arrested receive individualized bail hearings within 24 hours of arrest, that an inquiry be made into the person’s financial circumstances before the hearing and that unaffordable financial conditions only be imposed when there is no other alternative.  

Learn how to better manage your email workload during a one-hour webinar on Dec. 6 from noon until 1 p.m. CST. How to Better Manage Your Workload: Email Management explores how to efficiently batch process emails to get them out of your inbox without losing important messages. Attendees are encouraged to have their laptops or other mobile devices handy to try out proposed solutions. The program is part of the TBA’s annual Year End CLE Event, which offers a variety of live virtual or on-demand programs, CLE packages and much more to help meet your last minute CLE needs.  

Community leaders and criminal justice advocates in Nashville are pushing back against a program from the District Attorney’s office called “Safe Surrender,” the Tennessean reports. The two-day program, also hosted by the criminal court clerk and several general sessions judges, allows those with outstanding warrants to turn themselves in at a local church to receive “favorable consideration.” Advocates and community leaders say they’d like clarification on what the favorable considerations would be and claim the program lacks real incentives. The goal of the program is to clear a backlog of 33,000 outstanding warrants in Nashville, 11,000 of which are for failure to appear according to the DA’s office. “The program has good intentions," said Dawn Deaner, executive director of the Choosing Justice Initiative. “But they aren't doing anything that a good lawyer can't help someone do."

The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office yesterday announced it will no longer grant exemptions to a new state law that abolishes all vaccine mandates, the Tennessean reports. State legislators passed a law banning all vaccine mandates during the COVID special session in October, but entities at risk of losing federal funding for not complying with federal vaccine requirements were allowed to apply for exemptions from the Comptroller’s Office. In a statement, the Comptroller’s Office said it “can no longer find that compliance with Public Chapter 6 would result in a loss of federal funding” after two federal judges issued preliminary injunctions blocking the federal vaccine mandate. Sixty nine exemptions that were granted to entities like the University of Tennessee System and Blue Cross Blue Shield are now suspended, but the Comptroller’s Office notes they could be reinstated if the injunctions are lifted.