In May, the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) sent a letter to guardians and families of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who live in state-run homes, informing them that the homes would be decommissioned for adults and repurposed to house children in custody of the Department of Children's Services (DCS). According to child advocates, DCS is now placing children with no known disability diagnoses for months at a time in those group homes to await evaluations for potential disabilities or mental health issues that, in some instances, they do not have. Advocates explain that while a child is living in a group home awaiting an evaluation, efforts to find a foster home halt, adding they are especially concerned that the normal safeguards for adults or children placed in group homes have been set aside for children in DCS custody. The Tennessee Lookout has the story.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), a nonprofit organization that advocates for the separation of church and state, sent a letter of concern to Battle Creek Middle School in Spring Hill after a parent told the organization that the school’s principal, Mike Kinnard, led students in prayer at a May 23 graduation ceremony. According to the Tennessean, this is the second incident with Kinnard, who was challenged by FFRF in 2023 for using Bible verses and prayer to conclude an awards ceremony. Maury County Schools Superintendent Lisa Ventura responded to FFRF, in identical letters, that she spoke privately with the principal about both incidents. Despite the repeat incidents at the school, FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said she is optimistic that the school will take steps to ensure adherence to the establishment clause. “We’re pleased that Battle Creek will ensure graduation ceremonies going forward will honor the accomplishments of students instead of being misused for religious proselytization.”

The Tennessee Bar Association is conducting a survey to better understand attorneys' professional needs, and feedback is critical to ensure TBA can best support lawyers in Tennessee. Please watch your inbox July 10 for an email from President Ed Lanquist Jr. with survey instructions. On July 12, you'll receive an email invite from Avenue M Group LLC, an independent market research firm and our partner for this survey. The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete and is intended for both current members and nonmembers.

General Sessions Criminal Court Judge Sheila Renfroe has responded to allegations of bias from Assistant Public Defender Melody Carlisle, calling them an attempt to “impugn the integrity” of her court and alleging Carlisle has "knowingly made misrepresentations to the court in representation of her clients." Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Chris Craft agreed Renfroe has taken actions that are “clearly indicative of personal animosity" toward Carlisle and removed Renfroe from 28 cases on June 28; Renfroe then filed an order reinstating herself to some of the cases. Craft, who has superseding jurisdiction over Renfroe’s court, subsequently filed a motion July 1 canceling Renfroe’s motion and affirming his ruling to keep her off all 28 cases, reports the Daily Memphian. Renfroe's response states that Carlisle is "disrespectful" and "sarcastic," and that her body language has been "disruptive" in court. Carlisle has explained it is partly a result of a medical condition.

Shelby County Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon on Wednesday was a guest on the WKNO-TV program “Behind The Headlines,” where he addressed the community's concerns about juvenile crime. The Daily Memphian reports that the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission data shows the number of delinquency cases filed for juveniles was down 47% during the first quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of 2023; however, the percentage of youth reoffenders is up 3.7% to 38.9% compared to the first quarter of 2023. Sugarmon also said 75% of the court’s work is on the child-welfare side, dealing with child support, child custody or dependency and neglect matters. Delinquency work makes up the other 25%. 

A group of mainly Black clergy and business and community leaders in Chattanooga held a press conference on Monday in front of District Attorney Coty Wamp's office, saying the indictment of Police Chief Celeste Murphy was the result of politics, reports Chattanoogan.com. Dr. Ernest Reid, pastor of Second Missionary Baptist Church, said Murphy's historic appointment as the city's first Black female police chief "was met with hostility almost from the start," adding that this "attempt to discredit an African American woman in leadership reeks of petty partisan politics with dangerous outcomes if applied uniformly." Wamp attended the press conference and stated she had referred the matter from the start to a prosecutor from another county and that her office had not brought the charges against Murphy, stating, "I cannot and will not comment on Chief Murphy's investigation or indictment, because I do not know anything about it other than what I have read in the news media."

Defense attorneys for the widow of Gershun Freeman, a Shelby County Jail inmate who died in custody in 2022, have subpoenaed Memphis attorney Allan Wade's office in the federal civil lawsuit about Freeman’s death. The Daily Memphian reports that the subpoena seeks written communications, documents and phone calls between Wade’s office and the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office and any of the nine officers who have been charged in Freeman’s death, charges which range from aggravated assault to second-degree murder. Freeman died in October 2022 after an altercation with corrections deputies at the jail, during what his widow’s lawsuit describes as a “mental health crisis.”

A new report released by the nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank Prison Policy Initiative found that Tennessee has the ninth-highest incarceration rate in the world based on population if each U.S. state were considered its own country, according to the Tennessee Lookout. Tennessee has more than 55,000 people in local jails or state and federal prisons. Seven other states, mainly in the South, and El Salvador are the only places that have higher rates of people in jails or prisons. The report analyzes prison data from various U.S. counties, states and other countries, using population data to find which ones have the most people incarcerated. Read the full report here. 

U.S. District Judge Ada Brown in Dallas has delayed implementation of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) near-total ban on noncompete agreements. Bloomberg Law reports that the ban was set to take effect nationwide Sept. 4, and it will now be on hold until August for the groups that seek to permanently strike the rule from the books, while the judge considers the merits of their suit. The groups warned the new rule would invalidate 30 million employment contracts in a move that “amounts to a vast overhaul of the national economy.” The FTC argues it has full authority to issue the rule, but Brown said in her ruling Wednesday that the challenge to the measure is “likely to succeed on the merits,” and that the public interest weighed in favor of temporarily blocking the rule.

U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger on Wednesday sentenced four anti-abortion activists who were convicted in January on felony conspiracy charges for their roles in a 2021 clinic blockade in Mt. Juliet. The sentences, which are less than what prosecutors requested, range from six months in prison to three years of supervised release. The Associated Press reports that while the judge recognized activists' actions were based on sincerely held religious beliefs, she said that was not an excuse to break the law. The defendants used their religious fervor to “give themselves permission to ignore the pain they caused other people and ignore their own humanity,” Trauger said. Two others charged with felonies in the case will be sentenced in September. Five more people were charged with misdemeanors in April.