The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) on Thursday announced that the national mean scaled score for the July 2024 Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) was 141.8, an increase of about 1.3 points compared to the July 2023 mean of 140.5 and the highest July MBE mean since 2013, excluding the summer and fall 2020 administrations. The MBE, one of three sections that make up the bar exam in most U.S. jurisdictions, consists of 200 multiple-choice questions answered over six hours. This July, 49,844 examinees took the MBE, an increase of more than 8% compared to the 45,968 examinees who sat for the exam in July 2023. Reuters reports that compared with the previous year, 32 states saw increases in pass rates, 11 saw decreases and seven saw no change.

Rutherford County District Attorney Jennings Jones and Ericka Downing, director of the Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Center in Murfreesboro, allege that Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital in Murfreesboro has stopped offering forensic exams to victims of sexual assault. The Tennessee Lookout reports that Downing says she is unaware of a single forensic exam performed since January at the hospital. Jones called it a “substantial concern” that has surprised and disappointed prosecutors in the county. David Leaverton, senior director of external communications at the hospital, denied the allegations, saying, "Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital continues to provide rape kit exams." Leaverton noted it has been challenging for the hospital to maintain 24/7 coverage with trained nurses but says the hospital has not changed its services.

K.C. Potter, Vanderbilt University's dean emeritus of residential and judicial affairs, died Aug. 26 at age 85. Born in Fallsburg, Kentucky, Potter began attending Vanderbilt's College of Law in 1961 and was employed as an assistant resident advisor. After completing his law degree, he worked as a clerk for the Tennessee Supreme Court, and in 1964, he was admitted to the bar. He returned to Vanderbilt in 1965 as assistant dean of men, and when the offices of dean of men and dean of women were combined in 1971, Potter was named associate dean of the new Office of Student Life. He held that position until 1977, when he was named dean of residential and judicial affairs. “K.C. embodied the values of fairness and respect throughout his decades of service,” Provost C. Cybele Raver said. “His dedication to our students and his unwavering commitment to creating a supportive and inclusive campus environment have left an indelible mark on this university.” In 2008, the Euclid House on West Side Row became the K.C. Potter Center, named in honor of the former dean who had been supportive of the LGBTQ+ community and engendered a spirit of inclusiveness on campus. A celebration of life is planned for May 2025.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights today announced that Memphis-Shelby County Schools violated federal civil rights law by not adequately responding to complaints of sexual harassment and assault of students over a three-year period. Chalkbeat reports that district documents reflect reports that teachers or substitute teachers sexually assaulted students in seven incidents across three school years at all school levels in the district. Documents also show 53 more cases of reported staff-to-student sexual harassment, not including sexual assault, as well as a total of 88 cases of student-to-student sexual harassment during the same time period.

Henry Beecher Hicks III, the former CEO of the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM), has filed a lawsuit alleging that he is owed close to $300,000 of promised payments as part of a separation agreement with the museum. NMAAM disputes that claim, telling the Nashville Business Journal, "We are continuing to gain a clearer picture of Mr. H. Beecher Hicks III's fiscal management practices during his tenure." Hicks led the museum from 2013 to 2023, which included the museum's opening in 2021 at the prominent Fifth + Broadway development in downtown Nashville, capping a planning effort that lasted more than two decades.

Tennessee Democratic Party (TNDP) chair Hendrell Remus will not seek another term when party leadership elections happen in January. The Nashville Banner reports that Remus was elected in 2021 as the first Black chair of the TNDP and reelected in 2023. In his two terms, he says he focused on making the party function as “a political operation, not a social club” and has sought more than short-term wins. Remus told the news outlet that the final test of whether his tenure was effective would be this year’s general election when the party aims to exceed the Democratic voter turnout seen during the 2020 presidential election and flip at least two state house seats.

Davidson County Juvenile Court Judge Sheila Calloway today delivered the closing plenary for the 2024 Equal Justice University (EJU), lauding the state's access to justice community as “compassionate, zealous advocates” and sharing a call to action for these “brave leaders” to continue to make systemic change every day. DarKenya Waller, executive director of Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands, introduced Calloway, describing her as a leader who is serious about changing the lives of young people. Calloway also spoke about the new Nashville Youth Campus for Empowerment (NYCE), a 14-acre facility that broke ground this month and will replace the current juvenile detention center. NYCE will be the nation's first family-oriented, trauma-informed center with resources and agencies on site that can provide immediate services to young people and their families.

In addition, three awards were presented. Amy Willoughby Bryant with the Metro Nashville Office of Conservatorship Management received the B. Riney Green Award, which recognizes those who promote state-wide collaboration on a project strengthening access to justice across Tennessee. Stewart Clifton, who is retired from the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS), received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Lucinda Smith with Bass Berry & Sims received the Janice M. Holder Award, which recognizes a professional whose work in private practice, corporate practice, public service or other social service makes significant contributions in advancing the quality of justice statewide by ensuring the legal system is open and available to all. Finally, the staff of West Tennessee Legal Services received the 2024 EJU Spirit Award. See photos from the event.

The Memphis City Council today announced it is suing the Shelby County Election Commission to allow gun regulation questions to be put on the November ballot, reports the Commercial Appeal. On Tuesday, in response to pushback from state legislators and the state coordinator of elections, the Election Commission announced the previously approved questions would not appear on the ballot. The Daily Memphian reports that Council Chair JB Smiley Jr. said, "We won’t back down and ... sure won’t be bullied ... They [referring to state legislators] know that over 70% of Tennesseans want gun reform." The lawsuit asks a Shelby County chancellor to force the election commission to place the referendum questions on the ballot, and seeks a temporary and permanent injunction against the election commission for refusing to do so. Memphis Mayor Paul Young said that the suit is "futile" and could endanger the city’s attempts to work with the Republican supermajorities leading the Tennessee legislature.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti last October sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over millions of dollars in family planning funding the state lost after it violated federal requirements for clinics to counsel clients on all reproductive health options, including abortion. The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals now has ruled that the federal government does not have to reinstate those funds as a legal battle plays out over the state’s abortion policy. According to the Associated Press, the court stated: “Tennessee was free to voluntarily relinquish the grants for any reason, especially if it determined that the requirements would violate its state laws.” In other news from the court, last week it found that Tennessee properly denied convicted felon Erik Williams’s attempt to dismiss his gun possession indictment. According to Bloomberg Law, Williams was indicted for being a felon in possession of a firearm after Memphis police stopped him for speeding and found a loaded pistol in the trunk. He previously robbed two people at gunpoint and was convicted of attempted murder. Williams argued that the law violated his Second Amendment rights. The court found that Congress may disarm people they believe to be dangerous as long those individuals have the opportunity to show they are not actually dangerous. The court found that Williams was given that opportunity.

Gov. Bill Lee recently announced the appointment of two Tennessee attorneys to the state Higher Education Commission (THEC). Will Perry, an attorney at Butler Snow in Memphis and a former TBA Board of Governors member, and John Rader, a Cookeville native and chief of staff for Sen. Bill Hagerty, will serve on the commission through June 30, 2029. The THEC was created in 1967 by the Tennessee General Assembly to achieve coordination and foster unity concerning higher education in Tennessee. The commission develops, implements and evaluates post-secondary education policies and programs in Tennessee while coordinating the state’s systems of higher education.