Shelby County will launch a committee to study the feasibility of reparations for the descendants of slaves, according to the Commercial Appeal. The current budget allocates $5 million until the committee “finds actionable items” addressing five areas, including access to affordable housing and homeownership, affordable healthcare, systemic disenfranchisement in the criminal justice system, career opportunities, financial literacy and generational wealth. Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. said that the $5 million could potentially be reimbursed through funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, since those funds have been used to support things like workforce development, small businesses, housing and public health infrastructure.

More than 30 nonprofit leaders and Nashville-area business executives are appealing to the state legislature to stop pursuing legislation that targets Nashville and to reset the "increasingly adversarial relationship" with Metro. The Nashville Business Journal reports that the group warns in a Feb. 22 letter that a half-dozen bills being debated in the Republican-controlled General Assembly will undercut Nashville's growing economy while igniting "legal and governmental chaos." Much of the proposed legislation is widely seen as retaliation in response to Metro Council's vote last summer to reject a proposed bid to host the next Republican National Convention. The legislation includes bills to cut the Metro Council in half to 20 seats (a move recently rejected by Nashville voters), revoking the tax revenue that funds the Music City Center and creating new oversight boards for the Nashville International Airport and Metro’s Sports Authority with seats filled by state officials.

The Nashville Scene and Salon.com take a look at the new book from former Tennessee Bar Journal Editor Suzanne Craig Robertson. “He Called Me Sister” documents the relationship between death row inmate Cecil Johnson and Robertson's family as Johnson’s case winds its way through the legal system ultimately culminating with his execution. The book is available at local Nashville bookstore Parnassus Books, on Amazon or through your favorite book retailer. Robertson held a sold out reading at Parnassus on Feb. 21 where she shared a passage from the book and was interviewed by fellow author Joy Jordan Lake. Watch for a review by former TBA President and columnist Bill Haltom in the March/April issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal.

The state Supreme Court reinstated the license of Shelby County attorney Justin Leslie Bailey effective Feb. 6, after Bailey completed requirements of the BPR.

Luther Wright of Olgetree Deakins will present "Making 'Difficult Communications' Less Difficult: Best Practices and Strategies for Success" at noon on Feb. 28. This presentation examines the five barriers to healthy communications and provides strategies for addressing each and identifies the most common communication mistakes employers make. The presentation also provides tips for individuals to become better communicators and explores de-escalation techniques. Visit the CLE course listing for more information and to register.

The University of Tennessee College of Law celebrates Black History Month with a Black Women in Appellate Law Panel, hosted by the Black Law Student Association. Panelists will include Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, the first Black woman to serve as an Associate Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court and Ashely Stewart, the first Black woman to argue in front of the Iowa Supreme Court. This event is Wednesday at noon EST in Room 237.

Natisha Brooks, a self-styled “conservative constitutionalist,” has thrown her hat in to the 2023 Nashville mayor’s race, making her the seventh candidate to launch a campaign. In an interview with the Tennessean, Brooks says that her campaign will focus on increasing funding and resources for mental health initiatives working within the police force and schools. She is also interested in improved transit options and increasing Nashville's homeless response. She says she also believes property taxes in Davidson County are too high.

The Biden administration has announced a new plan to restrict which migrants can apply for asylum at the border, likely setting off a flurry of court battles. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rolled out the new rule, which would limit some migrants arriving by land from requesting asylum protections if they have not already requested asylum in another country they passed through on their way to the United States. The rule is designed to dovetail with the administration’s other major immigration initiative, a system that allows certain asylum seekers with U.S.-based sponsors to apply for immigration parole to directly enter the United States from their home countries or from certain transit countries. The Hill has the full story.

The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board will hear arguments in Cook v. Newton Nissan of Gallatin on Wednesday. After an expedited hearing, the trial court ordered the employer to offer a panel of pain management specialists, which must exclude a physician who had already seen the employee. The employer appealed. Arguments will start at 9 a.m. and will be held via Microsoft Teams. To observe, click on the links in this revised Oral Arguments Docket.

Community leaders in Shelby County, including the local branch of the NAACP, are asking the Department of Justice to get involved in reform efforts on the local level. One of the paths forward include people calling for two separate consent decrees — one for the Memphis Police Department in light of the death of Tyre Nichols and one for the Shelby County Jail in light of the death of Gershun Freeman. If the Department of Justice investigates and finds the two entities constitutionally deficient, a governing body would come in and work with city and county leaders to improve said conditions. ABC24 has the full story.