Two Cookeville-area educators are facing assault charges after paddling a student in October at Dodson Branch Elementary in Jackson County. A teacher and an assistant principal were arrested Nov. 7 after a grand jury returned charges of simple assault against and criminal responsibility of assault. The Tennessean reports that there is no state law banning corporal punishment in Tennessee, but many districts — including Metro Nashville; Cheatham, Dickson, Robertson, Sumner and Williamson counties; and Franklin and Murfreesboro city schools — have banned the practice altogether, some for more than a decade. In April, Gov. Bill Lee signed a law that prohibits schools from using corporal punishment against children with disabilities unless a local education agency's discipline policy permits the use of corporal punishment and a parent gives written consent to school officials.

The Tennessee Bar Association will be open on a limited basis next week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and closed on Thursday and Friday in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Visit the TBA website to access CLE offerings and contact information for individual staff members. The office will reopen Nov. 27 at 8 a.m. CST. Happy Thanksgiving!

An investigation by ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio has found that the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center in Knoxville has been using seclusion as a punishment for years. It reports that the Department of Children's Services (DCS), the licensing agency for the facility, has documented the improper use of seclusion and has put the Bean Center on corrective action plans, though it has continued to renew its license. In 2017, DCS changed the standards for using seclusion, adding guidelines and a reporting requirement, which were then codified into law. The Bean Center, the report found, continues to use seclusion as punishment, rather than as a last resort as the law requires. Richard Bean, the facility's superintendent and namesake, says of his operation: “What we do is treat everybody like they’re in here for murder. You don’t have a problem if you do that.” A similar investigation into juvenile detention practices in Rutherford County ended with the resignation of the presiding juvenile court judge.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) has selected members for its 2024 Diversity Leadership Institute (DLI) class. This year's invited participants represent all six law schools across the state.

Congratulations to Abbie Dierbeck from Belmont University College of Law; Amanda Reyes and Jasmine Steele from Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law; Imani Bruce, Christina Mulliford, Ian Reddick and Anthony Self from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law; Charlena Fuqua, Jasmine Patton, Amanda Harrington Sargent, Zaia Thombre and Diane Tress from Nashville School of Law; Ashley Fox from Vanderbilt University Law School; and Daniel Mendoza and Trinity Sandifer from the University of Tennessee College of Law.

Class members will embark on a six-month leadership and mentoring program designed to develop skills to succeed as a law student and attorney, empower students to contribute more to the legal community, match students to mentors in a diverse variety of practice areas, and build relationships among students of diverse backgrounds. Thanks to DLI co-chairs Brande Boyd and Rod Watson for their work selecting the new class.

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands (LAS) today announced that it has launched a fundraising campaign devoted to funding reentry services provided to residents of Middle Tennessee. The campaign, running through the end of 2023, has a fundraising goal of $200,000. Having a criminal record can create a barrier to employment, housing, public benefits and other necessities, the group says. “Reentering society after incarceration is much more difficult than many people realize, with countless legal hurdles that can make it an uphill battle to simply find a job and a place to live,” says Executive Director DarKenya W. Waller. LAS’s reentry program assists residents trying to reacclimate to society and return to the workforce after a period of incarceration. Read the full press release.

The former women presidents of the TBA have joined together to celebrate 25 years of leadership with a sponsorship for the upcoming Raising the Bar CLE. The group, coordinated by 2007-2008 president Marcy Eason, will sponsor the lunch and reception for the Nov. 30 program, which this year focuses on being an advocate for oneself and others. Thank you to these leaders: Kathryn Reed Edge, who served as TBA president from 2000-2001; Marcy Eason; Gail Vaughn Ashworth, who served from 2009-2010; Jacqueline Dixon, who served from 2012-2013; Cynthia Richardson Wyrick, who served from 2013-2014; Sarah Sheppeard, who served from 2019-2020; Michelle Greenway Sellers, who served from 2020-2021; Sherie Edwards, who served from 2021-2022; and Tasha Blakney, who served from 2022-2023. TBA’s first woman president, Pamela Reeves, who served from 1998-1999, was included in the group through the generous donation of her husband Charles Swanson. Reeves died in 2020.

LegalOn Technologies announced that a new study shows the AI chatbot GPT-4 outperforms most aspiring lawyers on the legal ethics exam required by most states to practice law, reports Reuters. GPT-4 answered 74% of the questions correctly on a simulated Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE), compared with a 68% average among human test takers. LegalOn Technologies sells the AI software that reviews contracts. Reuters reports other studies have found that GPT-4 can pass the bar exam and improve speed on legal writing assignments but did not bolster the quality of law students' work.

The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) is seeking to increase its annual budget next year by nearly $182 million, reports the Tennessee Lookout. DCS chief Margie Quin said the funds would be used to meet the rising housing, mental and physical health needs of children taken into state custody after allegations of abuse or neglect. There has been a 19% increase in the number of children needing specialized inpatient care between the 2022 and 2023. Quin noted the number of foster care placements has dropped 13%. Lawmakers previously approved a $181 million increase in the agency’s annual budget in 2022.

The head of the Tennessee Department for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services told the governor’s budget team she would like to see a school-based behavioral health liaison in every school in the state, reports WKRN. “In order to be healthy ... and in order to succeed, you got to take care of your mental health,” said Commissioner Marie Williams. She noted there currently are behavioral health liaisons in 333 out of 1,900 state schools, and her team has seen improvements in student performance at those schools. To reach that level, the department has spent $28 million in state and federal funds. An additional $120 million would fully fund the program.

Rite Aid announced today it is suing the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to stop a lawsuit alleging that the pharmacy chain ignored red flags and illegally filled hundreds of thousands of prescriptions for addictive opioid medication, reports Reuters. Rite Aid asked a U.S. bankruptcy judge to rule that the DOJ lawsuit cannot proceed while it is bankrupt. Other opioid plaintiff lawsuits were automatically stopped by bankruptcy filing, the company argues. The DOJ, which sued Rite Aid in March, agreed only to a "brief pause" of its suit after Rite Aid went bankrupt last month, a position that Rite Aid say threatens to undermine the company's restructuring efforts.