The Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) Board of Trustees dedicated a bronze statue honoring Gen. Oliver Otis Howard in Alumni Park on the LMU Main Campus in Harrogate, Tennessee, during its annual Homecoming celebration in October. LMU Chairman Autry O.V. “Pete” DeBusk and the board commissioned the Fine Art Studio of Rotblatt Amrany to create a tribute to Howard based on another statue honoring the Civil War general, which stands in Gettysburg National Military Park. In 1896, after retiring from the Army, Howard traveled to the Cumberland Gap area and met with Rev. A.A. Myers who had founded the Harrow Academy for underprivileged mountain families. Howard agreed to help raise money for the school if Myers would expand its scope to include higher education. A year later, LMU was founded as a living memorial to President Abraham Lincoln. Howard remained dedicated and involved with LMU through the end of his life in 1909. Read the press release from LMU.

Several new laws will take effect on Jan. 1, 2024, including harsher penalties for distracted drivers, the elimination of disabled license plate fees for parents or guardians of a person confined to a wheelchair, and the requirement of car ignition breathalyzers to include GPS technology that will track the car's location at the time of an alcohol test. Additionally, the Tennessee Department of Safety will create a voucher program to reimburse people for the cost of a handgun safety course and the Tennessee Paid Family Leave Insurance Act will amend current code to allow insurances companies to offer paid family leave, which employers could then purchase for their employees. Read the Tennessean's full summary of the new laws.

Retired Circuit Court Judge Michael W. Binkley, of Tennessee’s 21st Judicial District, is the initial recipient of the Vanessa Pettigrew Bryan Equal Justice Award, reports the Williamson Herald. The award is given in recognition of the recipient’s commitment to the relentless pursuit of justice by the 21st District public defenders and honors retired Public Defender Vanessa Pettigrew Bryan. Bryan's career spanned more than 30 years in the judicial system, starting as a magistrate and serving as public defender of the four-county district that includes Hickman, Lewis, Perry and Williamson counties.

Shelby County Commissioner Mick Wright on Thursday sent a 20-page “letter of formal complaint” against Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert to Hamilton County District Attorney General Coty Wamp, the special prosecutor investigating Halbert’s handling of her duties. Wright says his case “reveals a clear pattern of intentional negligence.” The Daily Memphian reports that the complaint breaks down his reasoning for ousting Halbert into three sections: the abrupt closing of the clerk’s office in Germantown in 2020 and the Poplar Plaza shopping center earlier this year, as well as the expiration of leases in other locations; the backlog of car tags and vehicle registration renewals in 2022 that Wright describes as an “operational collapse;” and Halbert’s persistent complaints since taking office in 2018 that her office isn’t getting the funding it is entitled to from the county administration and can’t hire enough employees or get the proper equipment.

The County Officials Association of Tennessee has named Hamilton County Juvenile Court Clerk Gary Behler its 2023 State Court Clerk of the Year, reports the Hamilton County Herald. Behler has served as the juvenile court clerk in Hamilton County since his 2010 election. In 2018, the County Technical Assistance Service recognized Behler’s office as the first fully electronic state court clerk’s office in Tennessee. In addition, the court’s electronic filing system, implemented in 2022, was one of the first to serve juvenile courts in Tennessee. Behler is a certified public administrator as well as a certified county financial officer and he has served as an adjunct professor of criminal justice at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for 33 years.

Scrambling to get those last-minute CLE hours in before the Dec. 31 deadline? The TBA is here to help! Check out TBA Year-End CLE to choose from a quality mix of CLE packages ranging from six hours to 15 hours of credit on a variety of topic areas. Or, shop our online CLE products at cle.tba.org where you can access more than 30 practice areas and 200 on-demand programs, and watch them on your laptop or mobile device at your convenience. Don’t forget to use the prepaid credits that come with your TBA Complete Membership and save on your CLE costs. Not a member? Join now to start saving.

Don't forget, the TBA's 12 Days of Ethics ends Friday. Earn all of your ethics hours before the Dec. 31 deadline with the Ultimate Ethics CLE Package which offers up to eight hours of dual credit. Sessions include our popular Ethics Homeshow, updates from the Board of Professional Responsibility and ethics violations in the movies. Also check out our Attorney Wellness Package for five dual CLE hours. Topics include coping skills, setting work boundaries and mindfulness. Discover our other packages or choose from more than 200 on-demand programs. Sign up now!

The Memphis Bar Association (MBA) established The Honorable Gina C. Higgins Endowment Fund in recognition of Judge Higgins’ exemplary service to the Summer Law Internship Program (SLIP). The MBA surprised Higgins when it announced the endowment fund at its annual meeting on Dec. 7, which happened to be Higgins’ birthday. Prior to the public announcement, the fund already reached $158,000. It is managed through the Memphis Bar Foundation, the charitable arm of the MBA, and will be funded by 100% tax deductible donations. Read more about SLIP and the endowment in a press release from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

A former employee of the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury on Monday filed a lawsuit in federal court, alleging that leaders in the state office forced her to resign the day after she informed them she was changing her name and preferred pronouns as part of a gender transition. The Nashville Post reports that the plaintiff worked as a field staff auditor for the comptroller for more than 14 years until January 2022. She alleges in the lawsuit that supervisors forced her to resign because of her gender transition.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today adopted new rules to further protect consumers from scam communications by directly addressing some of the biggest vulnerabilities in America’s robotext defenses and closing the “lead generator” robocall/robotexts loophole. The new rules allow blocking of “red flagged” robotexting numbers, codifies do-not-call rules for texting and encourages an opt-in approach for delivering email-to-text messages. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined a bipartisan coalition of 29 attorneys general in filing a letter with the FCC in June, urging the commission to enact the one-to-one consent requirement.