More than a thousand people protested at the Tennessee State Capitol today in favor of tighter gun controls, urging the legislature to take action following this week’s mass shooting at Covenant Christian School in Nashville in which three children and three adults were killed, the Tennessean reported. The protests followed a Wednesday night candlelight vigil in Nashville where lawmakers stood alongside First Lady Jill Biden and musicians, including Sheryl Crow, who has called for stricter gun controls since the attack. The Tennessee Journal reports that in a letter to Gov. Bill Lee, Republican Lt. Gov. Randy McNally called for securing windows and glass in school buildings, adding magnetic locks on doors, modernizing camera systems and increasing armed guards.

Circuit Court Judge Michael E. Spitzer of Hohenwald was presented with the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP) Volunteer of the Year Award at TLAP’s Annual Camp TLAP, held March 25 at Montgomery Bell State Park near Dickson. Spitzer currently serves as chair of the TLAP Commission. According to the organization, his leadership over several years has been instrumental in supporting TLAP’s “gold standard” programming and monitoring support that rendered an 85% no-relapse rate in addiction cases last year. Camp TLAP included presentations by nationally recognized addiction doctors and leaders in the realm of supporting the recovery of licensed professionals and monitoring fitness to practice, all of whom joined the TLAP community in honoring Spitzer.

Voting for the 2023 TBA election will end at 11:59 p.m. CDT on Monday. Access to the electronic ballot was emailed on March 1 and 22. It was sent from the email address TBA.Election@intelliscanvotes.com. Please check your spam filters if you did not receive a ballot notification. Reach out to elections@tnbar.org if you have any questions or concerns.

Two moot court teams from Belmont University College of Law recently competed in the regional competition of the National Appellate Advocacy Competition. It was the school’s seventh year to compete and its seventh straight year be named the regional champion. Student Alex Schramkowski was named Best Advocate in the region for the second year and Samantha McCaleb was named Eighth Best Advocate. The regional champion team will travel to Washington, D.C., for the national finals in April. Read more from the school and see a photo of the participants.

The 2024 U.S. News & World Report law school rankings will be out April 18 according to Above the Law. What the list will look like with more than 40 law schools withdrawing from participation and yet-to-be disclosed weights, though, is anyone’s guess. A revolt against the rankings started last November when Yale Law School became the first to opt out. Dozens of law schools have followed that lead and repeated their own harsh criticism of the rankings. The article has the full list of schools no longer participating.

The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS) is seeking session proposals for this year's Equal Justice University (EJU), set for Aug. 30 to Sept. 1 at the Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro. Topics of interest include employment, family, health and benefits, housing, consumer, special education, juvenile justice and immigration law as well as professionalism. See all topics and submit proposals online by April 17.

A Maryland appellate court yesterday reinstated Adnan Syed’s murder conviction and ordered a new hearing, marking the latest development in a protracted case chronicled in the hit podcast “Serial.” The appellate court found that the lower court failed to give sufficient notice to the victim’s family when it scheduled a hearing to vacate the conviction, the Associated Press reports. It gave defense attorneys 60 days to appeal. Syed was released from prison last September after more than two decades. Baltimore prosecutors moved to vacate the conviction after finding alternative suspects and that unreliable evidence was used at trial. Read TBA’s past coverage of the case.

Nashville voters, Metro Council candidates and current Metro councilmembers are joining together in a lawsuit challenging a new state law that requires the Metro Council to be cut in half. The suit, filed yesterday in Davidson County Chancery Court, makes many of the same arguments in the Metro government suit, the Nashville Post reports. Plaintiffs in the new suit are Zulfat Suara, Delishia Porterfield and Sandra Sepulveda, all Metro councilmembers currently seeking reelection; religious leaders Davie Tucker and Judy Cummings; Dave Goetz, a former leader of the Tennessee Department of Finance and the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce; Alma Sanford, a community member; and Quin Segall, a candidate for Metro Council. They are represented by Scott Tift and David Garrison of Barrett Johnston Martin & Garrison and John Spragens of Spragens Law.

The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to go on a “hiring spree” for immigration judges next year, Knoxville Times reports. In its budget proposal for fiscal year 2024, which starts Oct. 1, the department is seeking $1.46 billion for the office tasked with adjudicating immigration claims. The request represents an increase of nearly 70% in funding and would enable the agency to hire 965 new judicial staff, including 150 new immigration judges. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in written testimony before a Senate appropriations subcommittee that the effort is designed to address the backlog of cases. There are currently about 600 immigration judges in the country (more than double from just a few years ago) handling more than two million cases.

First Lady Jill Biden will attend a citywide candlelight vigil this evening in Nashville’s Public Square Park to honor the victims of Monday’s shooting at The Covenant School, the Tennessean reports. Mayor John Cooper, Metro Council member Russ Pulley, State Rep. Rev. Harold Love Jr., Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake and Nashville Fire Department Chief William Swann will speak during the vigil, accompanied by clergy members and other state and local officials. President Joe Biden said today that he plans to travel to the city in the near future as well. To support those impacted by the shooting, the Tennessean has an overview of ways to help, including giving to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee’s new Caring for Covenant Fund and individual Go Fund Me accounts. The Scene has a roundup of vigils and rallies taking place this week. Alive Hospice will host two webinars next month on supporting a grieving child and has resources from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Finally, the National Mass Violence Victimization Resource Center has resources for educators, parents, caregivers, survivors, community members and community leaders, while the federal Office of Victims of Crimes has a Nashville-specific resource page.