The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame are honoring Memphis law professor Lynda Black as part of the 2020 NFF Faculty Salutes. Black is an associate professor of law at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and serves as the faculty athletics representative to the NCAA for the University of Memphis. Faculty athletics representatives from each school with an NFF National Scholar-Athlete will receive a $5,000 donation to help fund the academic support services for student-athletes. To be an NFF National Scholar-Athlete, candidates must have at least a 3.2 GPA, outstanding football ability as a first team player and demonstrated leadership characteristics. Black’s scholar-athlete is Memphis Tigers quarterback Brady White. Read more about the Faculty Salutes from the NFF’s website.

The trial of Andrew Delke, a white Metro Nashville Police officer charged with murder after fatally shooting a Black man, has been rescheduled for next summer, the Tennessean reports. Jury selection is now scheduled to begin July 5, with the trial expected to begin July 12. Delke shot Daniel Hambrick three times in the back during a 2018 foot chase in North Nashville, claiming he did so in self-defense. Delke's attorney David Raybin maintains the officer was following his police training. Raybin asked the court for a change of venue last year, but the motion was denied by Judge Monte Watkins and in January the state’s Court of Criminal Appeals declined to intervene. Raybin has filed a renewed motion on the matter, which will be heard on Jan. 25.

U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman again ruled against the state of Tennessee yesterday over a controversial state law that requires a waiting period before an abortion, the Associated Press reports. Friedman overturned the law in October, declaring it unconstitutional. Attorney General Herbert Slatery filed a motion last month asking Friedman to leave the law in place while the state appeals to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that it was not a burden for a “large fraction” of those it affects. In his opinion denying the motion yesterday, Friedman referred back to his October ruling, which found that the statute “burdens the majority of abortion patients with significant, and often insurmountable, logistical and financial hurdles.”

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen is set to lead the Department of Justice on Dec. 23 when U.S. Attorney General William Barr leaves the office, the ABA Journal reports. During his time in the No. 2 position at the DOJ, and despite his lack of experience as a prosecutor, Rosen took leading roles in the antitrust lawsuit against Google and the department’s opioid case against Purdue Pharma. He was also involved in a lawsuit seeking to delay the publication of a book by former national security advisor John Bolton. Rosen’s colleagues told the Wall Street Journal that Rosen relies on aides for guidance in areas where he lacks experience. Rosen’s job will be taken over by his top deputy, Richard Donoghue, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York who won convictions against Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera and NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere. Barr announced his resignation yesterday amid reports of tensions with President Donald Trump.

The criminal division of the Hamilton County General Sessions Court will close on Dec. 18 and will hear only in-custody cases due to court personnel testing positive for the COVID-19 virus, the Times Free Press reports. The court will reopen on Jan. 4, 2021, but many cases will be reset for March or later. Cases involving multiple defendants will also be rescheduled unless the defense objects. For defendants who are incarcerated, preliminary hearings will be held on Dec. 21 and 28 beginning at 8:30 a.m. As of Monday afternoon, Criminal Court Clerk Vince Dean told the paper his office would remain open.

The University of Tennessee College of Law has been ranked 14th on preLaw Magazine’s list of best value law schools. According to the College of Law’s website, the magazine identified 20 law schools from across the nation that offer students the best education for the money. Employment, bar passage, tuition, living expenses, average debt of borrowers and the percentage of students who receive loans were all factors the magazine considered when ranking the schools. “We are pleased that we’ve been able to keep tuition affordable for our students,” Interim Dean Doug Blaze said. “We want them to be able to focus on becoming successful lawyers and leaders in their communities.” 

Examine and identify the characteristics needed to be a leader during the TBA’s 2020 Leadership Academy on Dec. 29. This live virtual event offers interactive curriculum designed to help develop leadership skills, build characteristics of effective leadership and identify strategies to overcome challenges. Knoxville attorneys Buck Lewis and William Lockett Jr. will lead the program, which runs from 9:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. CST and provides five hours of dual credit CLE. Leadership Academy is part of the TBA’s Year End CLE Blast, providing attorneys with last-minute CLE all month long.  

Rep. David Byrd, R-Waynesboro, who was hospitalized over the weekend due to complications from COVID-19, might be put on a ventilator due to his low oxygen levels, the Associated Press reports. “I really need a miracle today!! My doctor said if my oxygen level doesn’t improve then he has no choice but to put me on a ventilator,” Byrd wrote in a post on his Facebook page. Byrd attended the House GOP caucus meeting on Nov. 24 when the nearly 70-member group reelected legislative leaders. He also participated in a House GOP overnight retreat the weekend prior.

Prosecutors in Germany have stopped their investigation into former Nazi concentration camp guard Friedrich Karl Berger due to lack of evidence, the Associated Press reports. Berger, who has been living in the United States since 1959, admitted to serving as a concentration camp guard, but denied seeing any abuse or killings. German prosecutors said they are unable to refute his account and have now shelved the case against him. Berger, who is 95, still faces potential deportation after a Memphis-based immigration judge ordered him to be removed from the U.S. earlier this year. 

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the nominations of Chuck Atchley and Katherine Crytzer to serve as U.S. District Court Judges for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the Chattanoogan reports. At their confirmation hearing last month, outgoing Sen. Lamar Alexander spoke highly of the two nominees. “The Senate should confirm judicial nominees with good character, good temperament, high intelligence and a high respect for the law. Mr. Atchley and Ms. Crytzer possess these qualities,” he said. Atchley has worked nearly 20 years in the federal court system in East Tennessee. Crytzer’s confirmation makes her only the second woman to ever be a federal district judge for the Eastern District.