The Tennessee House of Representatives last week passed a bill that requires the “safety of the community” be a magistrate’s first consideration in determining whether a defendant is released on bail. According to the Daily Memphian, the bill, HB1642/SB2562, sponsored by House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, and Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Memphis, is one of several related to bail under consideration in the General Assembly this session. Present law requires a magistrate to consider several factors in determining bail in order to ensure the defendant’s appearance in court. Those factors include the amount of time they’ve lived in the community, their employment status and financial condition, the severity of the alleged offense and the probability of conviction. “All the other factors will still be considered by the judge or the magistrate, but it makes public safety the first factor,” Lamberth said Thursday. The bill passed by a vote of 80-13, with three abstaining. “The safety of the community is already the priority of the criminal justice system,” said Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville. State Rep. Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, said that “instead of attacking bail, we need to address the root causes of the problems, such as poverty, the lack of opportunity, gun violence."

A federal grand jury in Memphis returned a superseding indictment last week bringing new charges against three alleged members of the Unknown Vice Lords (UVL) — Ghost Mob, a criminal street gang, for causing the death of an individual through the use of a firearm during a crime of violence. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee, the charges are the first to be brought as part of the Memphis Violent Crime Initiative. As part of the initiative, the U.S. Justice Department's Criminal Division has dedicated attorneys and other resources to prosecuting violent offenders and assisting intervention, prevention and reentry efforts to address the root causes of violent crime.

The Smith County Board of Education and Board of Commissioners recently reached a settlement in a lawsuit that was filed last November. The suit alleged that the county violated the Open Meetings Act by not giving proper public notice of meetings and that certain commission members met and/or deliberated privately regarding county finances, reports the Smith County Insider. In a joint statement, the two parties said, "Throughout the process, it has been the Board of Education’s goal to be in a position to continue to provide outstanding educational opportunities to Smith County students. Likewise, the county commissioners sought to find a solution that allows county services to be delivered in a manner that creates the least burden on the taxpayer. The resolution of the issues provides a mechanism for both public bodies to 'have a seat at the table,' for the implementation of policies and procedures, and to move forward."

The Tennessee House of Representatives today passed a bill that requires the “safety of the community” be a magistrate’s first consideration in determining whether a defendant is released on bail. According to the Daily Memphian, the bill, HB1642/SB2562, sponsored by House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, and Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Memphis, is one of several related to bail under consideration in the General Assembly this session. Present law requires a magistrate to consider several factors in determining bail in order to ensure the defendant’s appearance in court. Those factors include the amount of time they’ve lived in the community, their employment status and financial condition, the severity of the alleged offense and the probability of conviction. “All the other factors will still be considered by the judge or the magistrate, but it makes public safety the first factor,” Lamberth said Thursday. The bill passed by a vote of 80-13, with three abstaining. “The safety of the community is already the priority of the criminal justice system,” said Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville. State Rep. Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, said that “instead of attacking bail, we need to address the root causes of the problems, such as poverty, the lack of opportunity, gun violence."

A Georgia woman, Bianca Clayborne, has filed a lawsuit alleging her constitutional rights and those of her children were violated by Tennessee law enforcement officers and state social workers following a misdemeanor traffic stop last February. The lawsuit names four Tennessee Highway Patrol officers involved in the traffic stop, three Department of Children’s Services (DCS) caseworkers who obtained a court order to take the children, 10 Coffee County Sheriff Department officers who detained the family at the county’s jail and Coffee County, which is responsible its officers’ supervision and training, reports the Tennessee Lookout. The traffic stop for “dark tint and not actively passing” on Interstate-24 culminated in the arrest of Clayborne's partner, Deonte Williams, and all five children being placed in foster care for 55 days. In a search of the car, troopers found fewer than five grams of marijuana — a misdemeanor offense which typically receives a citation, according to the news source.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has declared that calls made with AI-generated voices are illegal. The decision comes after a fake robocall imitating President Joe Biden sought to dissuade people from voting for him in New Hampshire's Democratic primary election. Reuters reports that the FCC noted that state attorneys general previously could target the outcome of an unwanted AI-voice-generated robocall, but the new action makes the act of using AI to generate a voice in these robocalls itself illegal. On Tuesday, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined 50 other bipartisan attorneys general on the nationwide Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force in sending a warning letter to Life Corporation (Life Corp), the company allegedly behind the New Hampshire robocalls. “Using AI to spam voters’ phones with robocalls and inaccurate election information is illegal and fundamentally anti-American. Not to mention, it’s creepy,” Skrmetti said in a statement.

Jonathan Cole, a shareholder in the Nashville office of Baker Donelson, has been nominated by the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates as chair-elect of the 597-member policymaking body for a two-year term that begins after the Annual Meeting this August. The position is the second ranking officer in the ABA and serves as its chief policy officer. Cole has served as chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services and the ABA Young Lawyers Division, and he is past president of the National Conference of Bar Presidents and the Nashville Bar Association. The HOD's 69-member nominating committee endorsed Cole over William D. Johnston of Delaware in a contested election during the ABA Midyear Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. See a photo from the meeting. In other leadership news, Wisconsin lawyer Michelle Behnke was nominated as the ABA's president for 2025-2026. The HOD will formally vote on her election at the August meeting.

A federal grand jury in Memphis returned a superseding indictment yesterday bringing new charges against three alleged members of the Unknown Vice Lords (UVL) — Ghost Mob, a criminal street gang, for causing the death of an individual through the use of a firearm during a crime of violence. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee, the charges are the first to be brought as part of the Memphis Violent Crime Initiative. As part of the initiative, the U.S. Justice Department's Criminal Division has dedicated attorneys and other resources to prosecuting violent offenders and assisting intervention, prevention and reentry efforts to address the root causes of violent crime.

More than a year after a report was released that was highly critical of Tennessee State University's (TSU) senior leaders, Republican lawmakers are moving to remove and replace the members of its governing board. Axios Nashville reports that the Senate Government Operations Committee approved a bill Wednesday that would vacate the board. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, said, "It has been made abundantly clear over the past few years that Tennessee State University is in need of a reset. A new board and a new president working in tandem will give the university the fresh start it needs." Sen. Charlane Oliver, D-Nashville, countered, saying many of the problems at TSU are tied to historic underfunding. A federal review found that TSU has been underfunded by billions of dollars. "We have wronged this university," Oliver said. "As a result of our failures, TSU's operations are in the state of affairs that they're in now."

The Board of Judicial Conduct on Tuesday issued a public reprimand to Shelby County General Sessions Judge Bill Anderson Jr. The reprimand addresses two matters, the first that Anderson raised his voice and was sarcastic to a Memphis police sergeant who appeared in court for a bond hearing at the judge's request. The board pointed out that "a party who is the subject of overly harsh or intemperate words may reasonably perceive that the judge is biased." The second matter concerned Anderson's statements made in a September Shelby County Commission meeting during which he stated that he "detest[s] the bail bond system in Shelby County. I detest it across the state." The board expressed concern that the statements could "undermine public perception and confidence" that a judge would approach cases "fairly and impartially, as well as undermine public confidence in the judiciary." The court noted that Anderson cooperated with its review and took full responsibility for his actions.