Tennessee attorneys taking part in yesterday's Supreme Court Boot Camp got a chance to observe oral arguments and participate in a Q&A session with the justices. Produced by Donald Capparella of Dodson Parker Behm & Capparella and Edmund Sauer, staff attorney at the Tennessee Supreme Court, the event also featured a lawyers panel where advocates who participated in Wednesday’s arguments discussed tips for brief writing and argument preparation. The TBA annually provides boot camps for appellate court lawyers and those seeking to learn more about this area of practice. Stay tuned for information about next year’s boot camp, which will take place at the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals.

The list of those applicants who achieved a passing score on the July 2023 Uniform Bar Examination in Tennessee will be released by 2 p.m. CDT tomorrow by the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners. Results will be posted on the TBA.org website as soon as they are released.

TBA YLD Access to Justice Coordinator Trina Hughes and District 3 Representative Mari Jasa met with law students at Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law today in Knoxville. Jasa is a graduate of the TBA’s Diversity Leadership Institute program and encouraged students to take advantage of that program and others at the TBA while law students. See more photos.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump rallied students at Tennessee State University on Tuesday, urging them to encourage Tennessee lawmakers to allocate $2.1 billion in funds that should have been provided to the school but weren't, the Tennessean reports. Crump, who has provided legal services to several Black families whose loved ones have been killed by police, told students they had been cheated out of better opportunities that the additional money would have brought to the campus. He also threatened legal action if the funding is not restored. The funding shortage was spelled out in a letter from the Biden administration to Gov. Bill Lee last month. Tennessee was one of 16 states accused of underfunding its historically Black land-grant universities by billions of dollars over the last 30 years.

Three of the five former Memphis police officers charged with the beating, and later death, of Tyre Nichols will not be tried separately as they had requested, the Commercial Appeal reports. Shelby County Criminal Court Judge James Jones Jr. ruled Monday that the attorneys did not "show how any antagonism between co-defendants necessitates a separate trial, nor has he shown how he will be hindered in presenting his defense at a joint trial."

State Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, is suing House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, and others, claiming they violated his free speech rights by expelling and disciplining him for speaking without permission in favor of gun reform, the Daily Memphian reports. Jones is asking the U.S. District Court for Middle Tennessee to issue an injunction preventing Sexton from censoring him and from passing similar rules packages in the future.

Tennessee court officials will ask legislators for more money next year to raise the hourly rate to $80 for attorneys doing appointed work in criminal and juvenile cases. “Court proceedings can’t happen without court-appointed attorneys, but attorneys can’t afford to take cases at the current rates,” Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Holly Kirby said in a news release today. “The criminal justice and juvenile court systems are running out of options.” Tennessee’s reimbursement rate for court-appointed attorneys is the lowest in the country and has not changed since 1997. “Paying lawyers such low rates doesn’t make the cases go away. It just means cases are delayed, overturned, or returned to the trial court on appeal. That doesn’t help anyone,” Kirby said. “It’s not efficient or cost-effective."

TBA President Jim Barry applauded Chief Justice Kirby's sentiments and the AOC’s decision to seek increased funding. "On behalf of attorneys across Tennessee, the TBA has long advocated for increased rates and caps for the many court-appointed attorneys who represent the indigent and has worked with the AOC over the years to improve the funding levels. These cases affect some of the most vulnerable components of our justice system, as a large percentage involve children and families. Often these attorneys take these cases to their own financial detriment, and in many situations, the low rates and caps combined with the volume of cases make it increasingly difficult to maintain a law practice. This dynamic especially affects lawyers in rural areas and has led to a crisis that is threatening our entire legal system in Tennessee."

"The TBA looks forward to working with the AOC, the Supreme Court, the Legislature and Governor Lee’s administration to create meaningful solutions to this problem.”

The staff of Nashville’s Community Oversight Board will likely stay on board even after it is reconstituted as a Civilian Review Board, WPLN reports. The legislature earlier this year took away much of the power the boards held to monitor police departments, but newly elected mayor Freddie O’Connell has said he thinks civilian oversight is still important and will keep the staff in place to get the new Civilian Review Board “up and running as quickly as possible.”

Legislation passed this last session has made it harder for staff at Adult Protective Services to investigate self-neglect in clients who may be suffering from malnutrition, not getting needed medical care or living in filthy conditions, WKRN reports. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, changed the definition of “abuse or neglect” to be instances where a “caretaker” inflicts pain or deprives an adult of necessary services. “I’ve seen people in horrible hoarding situations," said Davidson County Assistant District Attorney Mary Griffin. She adds that some are living for months without water, electricity or other basic services. As a result of the new legislation, instances of self-neglect no longer fall under the purview of APS and those cases now have to be investigated by police. 

The 19th Judicial District Mental Health Court is now a reality, thanks to years of hard work from Judge Kathryn W. Olita and a team of passionate supporters. “When I started regularly hearing criminal cases here in the 19th, I noticed that certain defendants were cycling through my courtroom,” Olita says. “A jail stay would give them some access to mental health treatment, meals and shelter, but often after release a repeat offense or violation will bring that person right back.” Graduates of mental health court programs are more likely to break that cycle, Olita says. The court is now accepting new clients through referrals from the district attorney and public defender.