The Nashville mayor’s race widens as state Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, announces her campaign. The Tennessean reports that Campbell said Nashville is “in the midst of a hostile takeover” and she has a “deep understanding” of the issues between the state and Nashville governments. Prior to entering state politics, Campbell served as mayor of the Davidson County suburb Oak Hill from 2014 to 2020.

The U.S. Justice Department is appealing a decision by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, that blocked the federal government from enforcing requirements that insurance plans cover preventive care, including screenings for certain cancers and pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV (PrEP). Reuters reports that if the judge’s ruling is not paused or overturned on appeal, insurers will be able to charge patients copays and deductibles for such services in new insurance plans.

The family of Gershun Freeman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, Chief Jailer Kirk Fields and the Shelby County government, the Commercial Appeal reports. Freeman was an inmate at the Shelby County Jail who died after corrections officers pepper sprayed him, hit him and kneeled on his back for multiple minutes. The lawsuit accuses corrections officers and Shelby County leadership of disregarding the jail's standard procedure, interfering with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and displaying a pattern of violence against inmates.

The Knoxville Bar Association and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, in partnership with Legal Aid of East Tennessee (LAET) will host a debt relief legal advice clinic for pre-screened individuals on May 13, beginning at 8:45 a.m. at the Public Defender’s Community Law Office, 1101 Liberty St., Knoxville 37919. The advice clinic will be available to qualified individuals in Knox, Blount, Loudon and Sevier counties. Attorneys will volunteer to conduct initial meetings with the clients to discuss their situations and options. Qualification for the free services will be income-based, with pre-screening by LAET. The clinic clients may also be eligible for free bankruptcy services. Individuals who live in the counties listed above may sign up by contacting the LAET at (865) 637-0484. Clients must register by May 5.

The Tennessee Bar Association’s online renewal for 2023-2024 is now open! Renew your membership to continue your access to CLE programming with three pre-paid credits, TBA’s Practice Management Center, free online legal research through Fastcase, and timely information through TBA Today, TBA Podcasts and the Tennessee Bar Journal. Be sure to check out the new career center and watch this fall for TBA’s Group Health Insurance enrollment. Attorneys not participating in the TBA's firm billing program can login and access renewal information through their MyTBA dashboard.

Multiple sources, including the Associated Press, are reporting that former President Donald J. Trump has been indicted on criminal charges in New York on Thursday for his role in organizing hush money payments to an adult film star during his 2016 campaign. The indictment, which remains under seal, follows an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg that centered on a $130,000 payment that attorney Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels shortly before the election.

The University of Tennessee College of Law has announced winners of recent legal competitions designed to help law students improve their advocacy skills. Max Williams won the law school’s 2023 1L Advocacy Competition, in which he and the 23 other students who competed with him were introduced to the facts of their case and had just 15 minutes to prepare their strategy before they appeared before judges to make their best opening statement. UT Law also announced that Chad Taylor finished first in the school’s Jenkins Trial Competition earlier this week and was named outstanding oralist. Alex Allen and Kyle Mangrum were second-place finishers and Grant Peterson was named best witness. U.S. Magistrate Judge and former TBA President Cynthia Wyrick gave feedback to the student participants in the trial competition.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that Angel Bumpass — the Chattanooga woman convicted in a murder committed when she was 13 — has begun talks with the prosecution in efforts to resolve the case. Bumpass was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder at age 24, almost 10 years after the slaying of Franklin Bonner. She was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole at age 84. Former Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Tom Greenholtz, who presided over Bumpass' original trial, granted her a new trial a few weeks before his appointment to the Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals last year. Her attorney, William Massey, said he is trying to come to a resolution for his client without going back to trial. 

Senate Judiciary Chair Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, said Wednesday that no gun-related bills will be taken up the rest of this legislative session, the Tennessee Lookout reports. “We will not hear any gun bills, anything related to gun bills this year. If they want to take them up next year, that’ll be fine,” Gardenhire said. The Senate Judiciary Committee, which already passed legislation to lower the gun carry age to 18 in Tennessee, will hold its final meeting next week, Gardenhire said. He noted Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti reached an agreement with a California group to drop the age to 18 from 21 after Skrmetti determined he could not defend the state in court. A federal judge in the eastern district of Tennessee signed the order Monday, the same day three students and three staff members at The Covenant School in Nashville were killed.

Popular legal thriller writer John Grisham continues the story of Mitch McDeere in "The Exchange," the sequel to his breakout novel from 32 years ago, "The Firm." According to the Associated Press, Doubleday announced Wednesday that Grisham’s newest book will be published Oct. 17. The new novel takes place 15 years after McDeere and his wife, Abby, helped expose underworld ties at a Memphis firm and fled for their lives.