TBA President Tasha Blakney presented a gavel to the Hon. Kyle A. Hixson today at his Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals investiture ceremony in Knoxville. Gov. Bill Lee administered the oath of office and Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Page and Justice Sharon Lee also participated in the ceremony.

A federal judge has denied a request by two Tennessee Tech professors to overturn disciplinary action levied against them after posting fliers on campus calling a fellow professor a “racist.” The pair alleged in a lawsuit that the school’s provost retaliated against them for the fliers by curtailing their ability to serve as faculty advisors to student organizations, participate in study abroad programs and benefit from pay increases for one year. They also alleged their due process rights were violated. Judge Waverly Crenshaw said the professors failed to prove either portion of their case, the Tennessee Lookout reports.

After more than three decades, Kathy Walsh is no longer the leader of the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence, WPLN reports. Walsh built the coalition’s reputation as the leading voice for domestic and sexual violence victims in the state, and as a registered lobbyist, she helped shape legislation in the field. Her exit comes after a federal investigation found the organization unlawfully retaliated against an employee who spoke up about potential misuse of federal grant funding. Three other former employees also expressed concerns about Walsh’s management of staff and unhealthy communication patterns. The board chair declined to say whether Walsh resigned or was fired.

The Chattanooga Hamilton County Family Justice Center is currently seeking community input for its Domestic Violence Needs Assessment. Interested individuals are invited to respond to the survey to help identify what resources are needed, which populations are most in need and how center can improve its support.

The Nashville-based law firm Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings today announced the distribution of a cy pres award of $80,713.38 to the Tennessee Justice Center (TJC). The award comes from the settlement of an antitrust class action against Mutual Pharmaceutical Company Inc. The suit was filed in 2012 on behalf of individuals and entities in 29 states who purchased the muscle relaxer Skelaxin and its generic equivalent metaxalone between 2005 and 2014. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee approved a $9 million settlement with the company and selected TJC to receive the award from funds that were undistributed to class members. Read more about the settlement from the firm.

Attorneys representing the City of Memphis have asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit from rape victim Alicia Franklin, arguing Memphis police had no duty to investigate her case to the extent she believes was needed. Cleotha Henderson has been charged with Franklin’s 2021 rape and with the kidnapping and murder of Memphis jogger Eliza Fletcher. Franklin sued the city for failing to investigate her case properly, claiming the failure to arrest Henderson led to the death of Fletcher – a claim the city called “immaterial, impertinent and scandalous” in its Dec. 6 motion. The city is asking Circuit Court Judge Mary L. Wagner to dismiss the case or, alternatively, to strike all references to Fletcher and delays in the testing of rape kits from the plaintiff’s complaint. Read more from the Daily Memphian.

A new episode of the TBA’s Sidebar podcast is now streaming, featuring Administrative Law Section members Jerry Taylor of Thompson Burton and Bill Penny of Burr & Forman. Taylor and Penny discuss judicial deference to agency expertise in federal and in state courts and how agencies evaluate and interpret rules and statutes. The episode was produced by the Administrative Law Section and its chair, Rita Gibson Rayford. The section will host its annual forum on Dec. 15 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. CST at Burr & Forman in Nashville and also via Zoom. Register for the event here.

The Tennessee Comptroller today released findings from its audit of the Department of Children’s Services, reporting that DCS failed to adequately investigate dozens of reports of sexual abuse and sexual harassment, the Tennessean reports. The audit also found that children remained in abusive or unsafe locations while DCS struggled to conduct “timely investigations,” that case workers failed to make “essential monthly supervision contacts” with those children, families and school providers in probation cases and that DCS didn’t move in a “timely manner” to investigate a large number of sexual abuse cases that fell under a federal rape law. The department is currently struggling with critical staffing and placement issues. Under a new bill filed by Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, DCS case workers would have a hard cap of 20 assigned cases. WKRN has more on that story.   

Brandon S. Griffin of the Griffin Law Group PLLC in Sparta has been named president of the White County Bar Association. Griffin graduated from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in 2013 before returning to Sparta and founding his law practice. He can be reached at Griffin Law Group, 621 North Spring St., Sparta or at 931-837-2050.   

Davidson County Chancellor I'Ashea L. Myles this week ruled that a Tennessee man on death row must exhaust the prison grievance process before his case can continue, the Tennessean reports. Henry Hodges filed a lawsuit over the psychological and physical care he received after an October incident in which he severely injured his own genitals. He was kept in full restraints nearly continuously for eight days after the incident. Myles stayed the case over a procedural need to exhaust the state's internal process, but expressed frustration with the narrow avenue prisoners have to raise issues with their care in extreme situations like Hodges'. News outlets the Associated Press and the Nashville Banner have filed freedom of information motions over the case. The AP is fighting the state’s request for a protective order that would seal broad categories of documents. The Banner seeks to unseal all documents that have already been filed.