The Tennessee Supreme Court on Monday canceled the in-person Uniform Bar Examination scheduled for Sept. 30 to Oct. 1 citing the current trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although “stringent public health and safety protocols” were planned, the court said an in-person test could not be safely administered with reasonable certainty. To help mitigate delay and uncertainty for recent law school graduates, the court instead ordered the Board of Law Examiners to administer an online, remotely-proctored assessment on Oct. 5-6. The test will be comprised of questions prepared by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, including three multistate essays and 100 multistate questions. Although successful applicants will not earn a portable Uniform Bar Examination score, the board has entered into reciprocal agreements with the District of Columbia, Maryland and Massachusetts, and is working to establish similar agreements with other jurisdictions. Also today, the court extended the deadline for withdrawing from the July exam with a refund until Sept. 1, and extended authorization for supervised practice through July 1, 2022. Read the order or learn more here.

In a related story, WBIR talks to six law school graduates in East Tennessee who have been studying nonstop for the bar exam and share their frustration of being in limbo while financially and emotionally drained.

Honky-tonk owners in Nashville will not be granted a temporary restraining order over COVID-19 restrictions, Fox 17 reports. The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Eli Richardson rejecting their request found that the government has authority to shut down businesses to get a handle on rising coronavirus cases, citing similar rulings in other states. Lawyers for the bar owners said they will continue “vigorously prosecuting the case ... and likely move for additional injunctive relief as the facts develop...”. In related news, the Daily Memphian reports that Memphis bars also have sued over pandemic-related closings.

Vanderbilt Law School students with the Immigration Practice Clinic recently developed a resolution addressing an increase in discrimination and harassment against Asian and Pacific Islanders during the COVID-19 pandemic and highlighting the disproportionate impact the pandemic is having on the Latinx and African American communities. The Nashville Metropolitan Council approved the resolution on July 7. The students also have been working with Vanderbilt’s law librarian Sarah Dunaway to develop “COVID-19 and Racism: Legislative Responses” — a catalog of state and local responses to the disproportionate impact of the pandemic. The two projects were overseen by Karla McKanders, clinical professor of law, director of the Immigration Practice Clinic and immigrant and refugee law professor. Read more about the projects.

Attorneys for death row inmate Harold Nichols late last month filed a federal lawsuit seeking to delay his Aug. 4 execution, the Associated Press reports. His attorneys argue that the Tennessee Supreme Court has twice denied his requests to reschedule his execution, but have delayed two other executions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They argue the pandemic has made them unable to prepare a clemency application for the governor and also say Nichols hasn’t been able to sufficiently meet with family, friends, attorneys or his spiritual advisor. They also claim the state attorney general and corrections officials haven’t provided a plan on how it will carry out an execution amid the pandemic. Nichols was convicted of rape and first-degree felony murder in the 1988 death of Karen Pulley in Hamilton County.

Nashville honky-tonk bar owners are seeking a temporary restraining order against Metro officials, the Tennessean reports. The filing is the latest move by some owners of popular bars to push back against restrictions placed on the establishments by officials as they seek to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The order seeks a restraining order against Mayor John Cooper, Nashville Director of Health Dr. Michael C. Caldwell and the Metro Beer Board, saying rules imposed by officials have forced bar closures and led them to suffer harm. In addition to halting the imposition of new closures, the suit also challenges the Beer Permit Board's decision to temporarily suspend beer licenses for four downtown bars after they violated previous COVID-19 orders.

The Hamilton County Health Department has warned of potential exposure to the novel Coronavirus recently at the county courthouse. "Case investigations have revealed that positive cases were in the courthouse during their infectious period during the June 25 to July 2 timeframe," the department said in a news release. "It is recommended that anyone who was at the courthouse during any of these days be tested for COVID-19 and monitor their symptoms." The Times Free Press reports on the story.

The federal government is targeting late July for reopening the Memphis Immigration Court, the Commercial Appeal reports. Hearings are now scheduled to begin after July 24. Memphis attorney Lily Axelrod, who represents an association of immigration lawyers, says she has contacted the local chief immigration judge several times to discuss safety precautions but has not heard back. The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees the immigration courts, also has been largely silent on the issue of how courts can safely open. It has posted some guidelines, including that everyone in the court must wear a face mask and no one with a COVID-19 diagnosis or symptoms may enter the space. In related news, the National Law Journal reports that the National Association of Immigration Judges has filed a lawsuit arguing that the government is stifling judges’ rights to speak publicly on key issues, including the threat of COVID-19.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order late Friday that allows 89 counties that do not have their own health departments to mandate masks to slow the spread of COVID-19, Nashville Public Radio reports. The order will be in effect through Aug. 3. It also includes a number of exemptions counties can adopt. To date, Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Shelby and Williamson counties have adopted requirements that masks be worn in public. Wilson County’s mayor has asked merchants to require masks for patrons. Earlier in the week, Lee extended a state of emergency order until Aug. 29 expressing concern about the rising number of infections in the state. In related news, all court personnel and members of the public now will be required to wear face masks at all 3rd Judicial District courthouses, according to the Greeneville Sun.

Davidson County general sessions court judges have approved an abbreviated docket schedule for the rest of the month after the county changed it reopening plans to reenter Phase 2. Only the following dockets will be open this month: felony and misdemeanor jail dockets, domestic violence jail dockets, orders of protection, emergency psychiatric committal docket, courtroom 1A civil docket, and state misdemeanor citation booking. For this week only, the metro traffic docket also will be open. No landlord/tenant cases will be heard through the end of the month. A statement from the judges indicates a determination will be made later if this reduced schedule will be necessary for the month of August.

For the first time in Tennessee history, as the coronavirus pandemic grips the world, courts are poised to try the accused with jurors behind masks and courtroom doors largely closed, Knoxnews reports. Knoxville defense attorney Joshua Hedrick argues that this approach is neither safe nor constitutional. He argues that most judicial reopening plans drafted by local judges and approved by the state Supreme Court either do not address or bar public access to trials, and that the use of masks violates the defendant’s right to confront witnesses and hinders the jury’s ability to judge witnesses’ credibility. In Knox County, the criminal courts are moving forward with cases and are mandating masks for jurors. Several other counties in state are gearing up for jury trials by the end of July, while others are holding off until at least August. Davidson County courts have suspended jury trials through September.