The White House and Democratic senators are closing out the first two years of Biden's presidency having installed more federal judges than did Biden's two immediate predecessors, the Associated Press reports. So far, 97 lifetime federal judges have been confirmed under Biden, a figure that outpaces both Trump (85) and Barack Obama (62) at this point in their presidencies, according to data from the White House and the office of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. D-N.Y. It is also a more diverse group of judges, led by Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, that court's first Black woman. 

Beginning in January, the Tennessee Department of Correction will require every person entering a TDOC prison to be screened by a full body scanner, Chattanoogan.com reports. The new technology enhances TDOC’s current security procedures by using advanced imaging technology that allows security staff to identify contraband being smuggled inside a person’s body. “Like all correctional agencies across the country, Tennessee is in a constant battle to keep contraband out of our facilities," said Interim Commissioner Lisa Helton. "We are committed to meeting the evolving threat and our mission of operating safe and secure prisons.”

Gov. Bill Lee says the state will take decisive actions to comply with protocols for carrying out the death penalty following release of a critical report from an independent investigator. “I have thoroughly reviewed the findings,” Lee said, “and am directing several actions to ensure the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) adheres to proper protocol.” Clarksville online reports that the months-long review of lethal injection operations was led by former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton.

Nashville attorney Todd Presnell offers some hot takes on privilege-related issues and court rulings that took place during 2022. Check out his latest post to the Presnell on Privilege legal blog to read about some of them, including attorney-client privilege and state-secrets privilege in the Supreme Court, internal investigations and more. Presnell also provides links to timely articles from others on a few unsettled privilege questions.

A viral video is raising questions about how much authority Nashville airport police had during an incident in which officers threatened to arrest Southwest Airlines customers with canceled flights on Christmas evening. The video shows an officer telling those with canceled tickets to leave the secured area and go to a pre-security ticket desk for help. He then tells them they would be arrested for trespassing if they did not leave. Nashville criminal defense lawyer David Raybin said the response to the situation was “clearly inappropriate.” Based on his understanding, Raybin said what happened at the airport that night did not rise to the level of criminal trespassing. "There was nothing that these people were doing that would constitute any kind of breach of the peace or any kind of bad behavior,” he said. The Tennessean has the full story.

The TBA will be closed Monday in observance of New Year’s Day. The office will reopen at 8 a.m. CST on Tuesday. Happy New Year!

A Hamilton County resolution providing $50,000 to support temporary housing for displaced guests of the Budgetel Inn went into effect Christmas Eve without Mayor Weston Wamp's signature, according to an email to commissioners, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. The funding was part of an agreement with the city of Chattanooga that provided a total of $100,000 to the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition to extend hotel stays for families who had previously lived at the Budgetel Inn in East Ridge. The motel housed hundreds of people when it was shut down Nov. 16. Both boards approved their $50,000 support unanimously. Wamp, however, released a statement saying the "resolution came together hastily and lacked protections to ensure taxpayer money would only go to people in need."

Nashville’s NewsChannel 5 reports that one of the five teens who escaped from the Natchez Trace Youth Academy in Waverly says a staff member at the facility helped them get out. Investigators said following the escape early Wednesday morning, the teens had stolen a car in Humphreys County before carjacking someone in Hickman County. But DeJuan Prime — who says he was one of the teens involved in the escape — said that an employee at the youth academy helped the teens plan it out. Prime said the teens and the staffer had planned the escape during the week prior: “It's five youth who escaped to see their parents on the holidays. Yes, I'm one of them.” According to the youth academy, all five teens have been safely located.

The Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking (CCAHT) says between 90% and 95% of human trafficking victims will find themselves in the criminal justice system at some point, according to WBIR in Knoxville. CCAHT launched a program with the Bledsoe County Correctional Facility last year to “provide individual support and group services to women who are incarcerated, who have a history of trafficking or exploitation,” says Executive Director Kate Trudell. A new law goes into effect on Jan. 1 that will require training in departments such as the Tennessee Department of Corrections, the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and the Department of Human Services to include ways to identify, intervene, prevent and help survivors of human trafficking. CCAHT helped push for the law.

The Tennessean reports that the Tennessee Department of Corrections failed to follow its own lethal injection protocol since it was introduced in 2018, according to the findings of an independent probe into the state's execution procedures released Wednesday. The probe, led by former U.S. Attorney Edward Stanton, found that the three drugs used in Tennessee's lethal injection protocol were not properly tested for endotoxins, a type of contaminant. This oversight was caused in part by a lack of communication: DOC never gave its lethal injection protocol to the Texas pharmacy contracted to oversee the procurement and testing of the deadly drugs, the probe found. Gov. Bill Lee tapped Stanton to lead the investigation into the state's lethal injection protocols in May, following a failure to properly test the lethal drugs the state planned to use to kill Oscar Franklin Smith.