Tennessee access to justice leaders today announced creation of the Justice Frank F. Drowota Trust to provide supplemental funding for organizations providing legal services to low-income individuals. The announcement was made today during a luncheon at Equal Justice University in Murfreesboro. Leaders involved in the trust include TALS immediate Past Director Ann Pruitt, former TBA President Buck Lewis, Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee and Justice Drowota’s wife, Claire Drowota, who will serve as trustees. Former University of Tennessee College of Law Dean Doug Blaze, TBA President Jim Barry and Pruitt will serve as trust advisors and trustee successors. In response to the announcement, Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Page said, “Everyone in Tennessee’s judiciary and beyond thought Frank was the finest judge and finest person we had ever known. The Court is pleased that his memory is being honored in this way.” For more information and to support the Drowota Trust, contact Buck Lewis. See additional photos from the event.

The Memphis-based Community Legal Center has named Melissa Janoske McLean as its new associate executive director. Janoske McLean previously spent 18 years as a professor of public relations, public speaking and social media, including seven years with the University of Memphis. She earned a Ph.D. in public relations and crisis communication from the University of Maryland, and undergraduate and master’s degrees in organizational communication from Radford University.  The Community Legal Center is a nonprofit law firm that provides legal services for low-income and otherwise vulnerable Memphians.

The Equal Justice University welcomed a record 300-plus registrants to its annual program this week in Murfreesboro. Presented by the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services and sponsored by the TBA and other groups, the three-day program launched yesterday with a presentation from Rachel Rossi, director of the U.S. Department of Justice's Office for Access to Justice. TBA President Jim Barry and Executive Director Sheree Wright both addressed today's luncheon crowd and the Drowota Trust was announced. The event wraps up tomorrow with a keynote address by Legal Services Corporation President Ron Flagg. Please look for a full story tomorrow on the Access to Justice Awards, presented throughout the conference. See photos from the event.

U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials held a community meeting yesterday as part of its pattern or practice investigation into the Memphis Police Department, the Daily Memphian reports. Maureen Johnston, acting deputy chief of the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section, told attendees that the investigation “will be looking into whether there are violations of the Fourth Amendment uses of force that are excessive,” “whether there are violations of the Fourth Amendment in the way that the police department makes stops, conduct searches” and “whether there is discriminatory policing” in Memphis. Attendees then met in small groups with DOJ employees. Read more about issues discussed.

The University of Memphis School of Law has received a three-year $300,000 grant from the Everytown Law Fund, which will be used to hire a legal fellow to handle civil legal issues impacting victims of pediatric gun violence. The funds will go the Memphis Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic, the Commercial Appeal reports. New York-based nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety finances a variety of litigation projects tied to gun violence, but the law school is the first recipient of a grant for an Everytown Legal Fellow. Law school Dean Katharine Schaffzin and Katy Ramsey Mason, director of the Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic, made the announcement yesterday.

The city of Memphis has hired former Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Bobby Carter to perform court monitoring duties at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center, the Commercial Appeal reports. His hours are capped at 10 per week. Carter is expected to make periodic reports on the efficiency and transparency of the court system by observing cases and examining court records and data. The year-long contract will not be limited to criminal courts and can be extended for an additional year. 

Attorneys for death row inmate Christa Pike filed a motion in Knox County yesterday to reopen her petition for post-conviction relief, citing a recent court opinion that her youth should have served as a factor in sentencing, the Tennessean reports. Pike, now 47, was sentenced to death in 1996 for torturing and killing fellow Knoxville Job Corps member Colleen Slemmer. Pike is the last person in Tennessee to receive a death sentence for a crime committed as an 18-year-old and has been the only woman on Tennessee's death row since 2010. A U.S. district judge upheld the conviction in 2012 ruling there were not “valid grounds” for an appeal to proceed. Pike was also convicted in 2004 for attempting to strangle a fellow inmate. 

Former Tennessee state Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, and his new attorneys have asked a judge to allow Kelsey to avoid reporting to federal prison until a higher court rules on his appeal, the Tennessean reports. Kelsey argued in a new filing this week that prosecutors breached a plea agreement by "advocating" during sentencing for an upward adjustment under federal sentencing guidelines. Kelsey was sentenced earlier this month to 21 months in prison for campaign finance violations after pleading guilty to felonies related to illegal campaign funding maneuvers. Kelsey's attempt to retract his guilty plea were unsuccessful, leading to a longer sentence recommendation from prosecutors.

The TBA YLD in partnership with the Tennessee Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission hosted two Essential Documents for Essential Workers Clinics this past Saturday. The clinics in Cookeville and Murfreesboro aided first responders and their families in drafting wills, powers of attorney and advanced health care directives. In all, 20 volunteer attorneys and notaries assisted 26 first responders in drafting these essential documents; 19 Belmont law students served as witnesses. The two events resulted in more than $13,000 of free legal services to first responders. Thanks to YLD District Representatives Morgan Hanna and Amber Vargas for hosting these events. See photos here.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission meeting today in Murfreesboro selected three nominees to forward to Gov. Bill Lee for his consideration in filling a vacancy in the 16th Judicial District. They are: Murfreesboro lawyers Terry A. Fann, Derek R. Howard and R. Michelle Howser. The vacancy on the court, which serves Rutherford and Cannon counties, is due to the Sept. 1 retirement of Circuit Court Judge J. Mark Rogers. Read the announcement from the Administrative Office of the Courts.