A joint investigation into the Rutherford County juvenile justice system by Nashville public radio station WPLN and nonprofit newsroom ProPublica has been named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize’s feature writing category. WPLN’s Meribah Knight and ProPublica’s Ken Armstrong shed light on the county’s juvenile justice system in which children were being illegally arrested and jailed under a judge who had the highest rate of locking up children in the state. The reporters discovered that the county was jailing children in 48% of the cases referred to juvenile court, versus the statewide average of 5%. A follow up investigation revealed the county was jailing a disproportionately high percentage of Black children. WPLN has more on the story.

Testing sites for the July 2022 bar exam in Knoxville and Memphis are at capacity and the Nashville location is near capacity, according to an order issued today by the Tennessee Supreme Court. The order says that bar exam applications will close once the Nashville site hits max capacity. Those who have submitted a paid application will have until May 20 to complete the application process. If there are more applications than available seats, those without a seat will be placed on a waiting list. If no seat becomes available by June 15, applicants without a seat will be refunded and withdrawn from the exam. Read more about the situation and the court's order.

Retired Court of Appeals Judge Charles D. Susano Jr. died on May 7. He was 86. Susano was in private practice for 30 years before being appointed to the Court of Appeals by former Gov. Ned McWherter in 1994. Susano remained on the bench for more than 25 years. At the time of his retirement in April 2020, he was the longest serving appellate judge in Tennessee, authoring more than 1,000 opinions and serving as chief judge of the Court of Appeals from 2013 to 2015. For the last 30 years, Susano was confined to a wheelchair after a sleepwalking accident left him paralyzed from the waist down. “I’m only handicapped if I let myself be,” Susano once said. “At worst, I have been challenged, forcing me to reinvent new ways to negotiate the new times.” Susano’s family will receive friends on May 16 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. EDT at at the Cathedral Hall at Sacred Heart in Knoxville. A funeral mass will be held on May 17 at 10 a.m. EDT at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more on where the public may make donations in Susano’s honor.

The U.S. Senate yesterday approved a bipartisan bill to boost security for Supreme Court justices to ensure their families are protected, the Associated Press reports. The measure does not provide additional funding for security, but makes a technical change that allows law enforcement to provide round-the-clock security to immediate family members of the justices. The bill comes amid protests around the country over a leaked draft opinion that suggests the high court is poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. The measure now heads to the U.S. House for consideration.

Two top officials from the Metro Codes Department will be leaving the department to join a new land use practice at the Thompson Burton law firm. Director Bill Herbert and Deputy Director Emily Lamb will join Thompson Burton as partners. The two were recruited for the new practice by attorney Jon Michael, who started the land use division last summer. Michael also recently hired attorney Margaret Martin, who was once chief development officer for the Metro Nashville Airport Authority. The Nashville Business Journal has more on the story.

The TBA’s annual Court Square Series, designed to provide attorneys with the latest developments in multiple areas of the law, is underway and will be making a stop in Kingsport on May 26. The three-hour event will include an overview of updates in probate and real estate law led by incoming Chancellor Katie Priester, an ethics update from Board of Professional Responsibility Disciplinary Counsel Steve Chrisopher, and a session on self-care from Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program Executive Director Buddy Stockwell. The program will be held in Room 130 of Northeast State at Kingsport Center for Higher Education at noon EDT. The Court Square Series will also be making stops in Murfreesboro on May 17, Cookeville on May 19, Chattanooga on June 3 and Jackson on June 7. Read more on each session on the TBA CLE website.

Gov. Bill Lee made two cabinet appointments today, the Nashville Post reports. Deputy Governor and Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Butch Eley will now head up the Department of Transportation. He’ll keep his deputy governor role as well as his office in the Capitol. Eley will take over for Clay Bright, who left the department to oversee the new Megasite Authority of West Tennessee. Jim Bryson will succeed Eley at the Department of Finance and Administration. Bryson is currently the deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Parks and Conversation at the Department of Environment and Conversation. He served one term as a state senator and was a candidate for governor in 2006.

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and the TBA is celebrating by sponsoring a free CLE program from the Tennessee Asian Pacific American Bar Association. "How We Got Here and the Laws That Impacted Our Journey” will feature a panel that will explore the history of Asian-Americans and the intersection of laws and regulations that affected their rights and their contributions to civil rights in America. The event will take place on May 20 at 3 p.m. CDT at Baker Donelson, 1600 West End Ave., Ste. 2000, Nashville. The program is also available online. Register for the program here.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments from the City of Knoxville on why streaming services Netflix and Hulu should pay cable television franchise fees to the city, the Tennessee Lookout reports. It’s a first-of-its-kind case for Tennessee, but mirrors lawsuits nationwide by state and local governments looking to make the streaming providers pay franchise fees. The key issue of Knoxville’s federal suit is whether current state law would allow municipalities to recoup franchise fees from video streaming services without legislative approval or action. The Supreme Court appeared skeptical of Knoxville’s suit, with new Justice Sarah Campbell saying had a “hard time understanding” how the city’s interpretation of the state franchise law wouldn’t lead to an “absurd result.”

The General Assembly has ratified and approved proposed changes to the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure, Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules of Criminal Procedure and Rules of Evidence. All changes will take effect on July 1. The state House approved the appellate procedure changes (Resolution 134) and the civil procedure changes (Resolution 133) on March 7 and changes to criminal procedure (Resolution 129) and rules of evidence (Resolution 130) on March 10. The state Senate approved changes to appellate procedure (Resolution 92), civil procedure (Resolution 91), criminal procedure (Resolution 90) and evidence (Resolution 93) on Feb. 24. Read the notice from the Tennessee Supreme Court clerk.