U.S. Reps. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, and Chuck Fleischmann, R-Chattanooga, have introduced a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives to honor the bravery and legacy of the “Clinton 12” — the 12 students who desegregated Clinton High School in 1956. The students were among the first in Tennessee to desegregate a public high school and among the first in the south to desegregate any school after the groundbreaking Brown v. Board of Education decision from the U.S. Supreme Court. The Tennessee Tribune has more on the effort and the text of the resolution.

A Bedford County judge’s son, who is behind bars on attempted murder charges, was on parole when he committed the alleged crime, WREG reports. According to court records, Sam Rich, the son of Judge Charles Rich, is accused of a shooting in Shelbyville just hours after being sought for questioning in a West Nashville murder. The younger Rich was on parole during the alleged incidents following his conviction for aggravated burglary and theft in 2019. He is now scheduled to be in court tomorrow. Also, because of the apparent connection between the Shelbyville and West Nashville shootings, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says it will take the lead in the murder investigation.

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel A. Cardona is questioning the legality of Gov. Bill Lee’s executive order that allows parents to opt out of mask mandates imposed by local school districts, News Channel 5 reports. In a letter sent to Lee and Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn, Cardona says the order may “infringe upon a school district’s authority to adopt policies to protect students and educators as they develop their safe return to in-person instruction plans required by Federal law.” In related news, the Shelby County Health Department issued a new countywide mask mandate in all indoor public settings for anyone over the age of two, regardless of vaccination status. The order will take effect tomorrow morning and last for at least 30 days, the Commercial Appeal reports.

Franklin-based law firm Thompson Burton has launched a new land use practice with the addition of Jon Michael, Metro Nashville’s former zoning administrator. Michael, a 15-year Metro lawyer, joins just a handful of Nashville lawyers with deep expertise in the area, the Nashville Business Journal reports. As the city grows, available land dwindles and development projects get more complicated, Michael says real estate pros need extra guidance. While engineers and architects can handle routine submittals, more complex deals will benefit from the assistance of a land use attorney, according to the firm.

The TBA’s Administrative Law Section will hold its annual forum virtually on Dec. 3 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. CDT. Topics and speakers are still being confirmed so watch for more details online. Thanks to section chair Alison Cleaves, assistant treasurer for legal, compliance and audit at the Tennessee Department of Treasury, for producing this program.

A Bedford County man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly assaulting a law enforcement officer during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, Nashville’s News Channel 5 reports. Ronald Colton McAbee of Unionville was indicted on four charges related to the riot, including assault, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon. He is one of 16 Tennesseans who have been arrested for their role in the incident.

More than 100 former and current prosecutors and law enforcement officials are calling on President Joe Biden to fulfill his campaign promise of creating a task force to evaluate how criminal cases are prosecuted in the U.S., the Associated Press reports. The task force included in Biden’s criminal justice platform would look at prosecutorial discretion and its impact on sentencing, parole and probation and plea deals. In a letter to the Biden administration, the group noted much of the discussion around criminal justice reforms neglects to address the importance of prosecutors in the system and policy changes such as ending cash bail and declining to prosecute smaller crimes as ways to address racial inequity, persistent poverty and over incarceration. 

Attorneys Bill Haltom and John P. Williams, in a new opinion piece for the Commercial Appeal, suggest that three state representatives who were essential in the ratification of the 19th Amendment be honored in the space that once housed the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the state Capitol. Despite strong opposition, state Reps. Joseph Hanover, Banks Turner and Harry Burn helped pass the 19th Amendment in 1920, guaranteeing American women the right to vote. Haltom and Williams, alongside Paula Casey and Tyler Boyd, write that busts of the three men, two of which have already been sculpted, should be placed in the space that sits empty after the busts of Nathan Bedford Forrest, Admiral David Farragut and Albert Gleaves were moved to the State Museum. “The placement of these busts in the State Capitol will tell the story for future generations to know that the 19th Amendment would not have passed without the efforts of these three legislators,” they write. Read the full article here.

An attorney for Gregory Livingston, the Kroger security guard accused of fatally shooting Alvin Motley over loud music, is asking a judge to prevent the release of any videos associated with the incident, the Daily Memphian reports. Livingston’s attorney Leslie Ballin told Shelby County General Sessions Court Judge Louis Montesi that three videos reportedly from the night of the shooting should be barred from release because they “could have the potential to affect the jury pool” in the case. Ronald Dowdy and David Jones, two Davidson County assistant district attorneys, are prosecuting the case for the state after Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich recused her office because of a conflict. Dowdy and Jones asked the court to not issue the protective order at this time because their plan to show the video to Motley’s family members, some of whom live out-of-state, would violate the order.

Brian Faughnan, shareholder in the Memphis office of Lewis Thomason, was recently elected president of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL). Faughnan has served as the organization’s treasurer, secretary and president-elect and will now lead the group through August 2022. APRL is made up of 400 lawyers, law professors and judges who hold an interest in lawyers’ professional responsibility, legal ethics, legal malpractice and the evolving law of lawyering, primarily through the application of the rules of lawyer ethics to the practice of law. Faughnan practices in commercial litigation, appellate litigation and media law at Lewis Thomason and works in conjunction with the firm’s president in all ethics and professional responsibility matters within the firm. He is a TBA member and a frequent speaker for the TBA on ethics and professional responsibility issues. Read more from Lewis Thomason.