Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly today appointed City Councilman Anthony Byrd as city court clerk, the Chattanoogan reports. Byrd served more than 20 years at the Hamilton County Criminal Court Clerk’s Office, resigning in 2017 to join the city council where he represented residents in District 8. Byrd chaired the council’s Public Safety Committee as well as the Economic and Community Development Committee.  

Travis Reinking, who fatally shot four people at a Nashville Waffle House in 2018, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, WPLN reports. Reinking’s attorney, Luke Evans, told jurors this week that his client was “driven by delusions” about the singer Taylor Swift and aliens, adding that Reinking thought he was being commanded by God the night of the crime. “What the proof is going to show in this case is that Travis Reinking is severely mentally ill,” Evans said. But Assistant District Attorney Jan Norman argued that Reinking’s actions were calculated, pointing to his purchase of extra magazines days before the shooting and how he chose a parking spot at the Waffle House that allowed him to see everyone inside before the shooting began. Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan has ruled that former death row inmate Pervis Payne will serve his two life sentences concurrently, making him eligible for parole in five years, the Commercial Appeal reports. Payne was removed from death row after the Shelby County District Attorney’s office dropped its pursuit of the death penalty following a state expert’s assessment that Payne has an intellectual disability. District Attorney General Amy Weirich is seeking to appeal Skahan’s ruling. Weirich said the new statute that “removed the one-year statute of limitations on claims of intellectual disability” doesn’t “authorize changing the original trial judge’s ruling that multiple sentences in the case should be consecutive.” Payne’s attorney, federal public defender Kelley Henry, said she and her legal team will continue to investigate the case in hopes of exonerating Payne.

The Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday named Michele Wojciechowski as the new executive director of the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education. Wojciechowski is a graduate of the Nashville School of Law (NSL). She held a variety of management positions during a 13-year career at the Tennessean newspaper and from 2012 to 2016 was director of communications for the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC). Most recently, Wojciechowski served as communications director at NSL, where she implemented a major curriculum overhaul, revived NSL’s Continuing Legal Education program and more than doubled job listings for students and alumni by revamping the career development process. Wojciechowski will replace former Executive Director Judy Bond-McKissack, who recently announced her retirement. Read more from the AOC.

Whether you need to satisfy your 2021 CLE requirements or you’re looking to get a jump start on this year’s compliance, the TBA CLE Mid-Winter Event is offering fast and reliable CLE from the comfort of your home or office. Package 1 offers eight dual credit hours of CLE and includes sessions like the 2021 Ethics Homeshow, Virtual Presentation Skills for Attorneys, How to Avoid Cybersecurity Pitfalls and more. Package 2 is worth six dual hours and one general credit hour of CLE and includes the 2021 Legislative Update, Understanding and Confronting Unconscious Bias, Better Right Now 2021 and more. Combine both packages for a total 15 CLE credits.

This week’s episode of Legislative Updates with TBA Director of Public Policy & Government Affairs Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorney and TBA lobbyist Brad Lampley features a preview of Gov. Bill Lee’s State of the State address, a discussion on budget and another update on where several TBA-sponsored bills currently stand. Do you have a personal story about a financial hardship preventing you from comfortably paying the Professional Privilege Tax? Send our public policy team an email. Legislative Updates airs every Thursday on the TBA’s Facebook page. It is also released as a podcast on the same day and can be found on the TBA’s website or wherever you listen to podcasts.  

Plans for a 14-acre juvenile justice campus in Nashville are underway, WKRN reports. Juvenile Court Judge Sheila Calloway says the new facilities, named the “Nashville Youth Campus for Empowerment,” will build on the restorative justice practices they’ve been using over the years. The campus will house the county’s Juvenile Court, a pre-trial housing facility and resources and agencies that can get services to families in need. It will include a 24-hour assessment center officials hope will support youth in crisis, a safe exchange facility for custodial visitation, and meeting areas for community partners. Calloway says she hopes to spend less money on the “detention side” of things and more on the “prevention side, to make sure that we’re providing great services to have our service providers right there on the campus with us.” The project is estimated to take about three and a half years to complete, costing  $130 million, but Calloway and others are working with architects to eliminate some aspects and lower that amount. 

Law firm Lewis Thomason has established a new diversity scholarship at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. The Lewis Thomason Diversity Scholarship will be awarded to a student who meets at least one of the following criteria: a first-generation college graduate, a graduate of a historically minority undergraduate institution, a socio-economically disadvantaged student, or a member of a historically under-represented group. Lisa Ramsay Cole, managing shareholder of the firm, says the scholarship will also “support a mentorship program, providing recipients a mutually beneficial relationship and develop well-prepared young attorneys.” This is the second such scholarship Lewis Thomason has offered in recent years. Read the full press release.

Jury selection began Tuesday for the trial of Travis Reinking, who is accused of fatally shooting four people inside a Nashville Waffle House in 2018, the Associated Press reports. Reinking opened fire inside the restaurant with an AR-15 before being tackled to the ground by restaurant patron James Shaw Jr. Reinking then fled on foot, prompting a two-day manhunt. District Attorney Glenn Funk’s office said prosecutors would seek a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole against Reinking, who has pleaded not guilty. Reinking was ordered to receive treatment for schizophrenia after his arrest, but mental health experts concluded in October 2018 that he was fit to stand trial. The trial is expected to begin early next week. Records in the case have been sealed and attorneys are under a judge’s order to not speak publicly on the case. It is unknown how Reinking plans to defend himself.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer formally announced his retirement during an event with President Joe Biden at the White House today. Quoting from the Gettysburg Address and, at one point, holding up his own personal pocket-sized copy of the U.S. Constitution, Breyer expressed hope for the future of the “experiment” of U.S. democracy. NPR has the full video and transcript of Breyer’s speech. “I’ve made no decision except the one person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity,” Biden said during the event according to the Associated Press. “And that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court. It’s long overdue.”