Nashville Mayor John Cooper is calling for a new juvenile justice center, echoing the concerns of Juvenile Judge Sheila Calloway, who has been talking about the current center’s state of disrepair for some time. Calloway says the building is too small, has crumbling pipes and raw sewage leaks, and was designed in a way that makes upgrades difficult, Fox 17 reports. A new center also would include security upgrades to help prevent escapes, such as one that occurred in November 2019. Calloway estimates the cost of a new center would be about $130 million. The mayor’s office says it is looking for a site on which to build.

Tennessee’s elected officials are looking into reports that migrant children were flown to Chattanooga, loaded onto buses and transported to multiple cities across the southeast. Chattanooga TV station WRCB broke the story earlier this week. Gov. Bill Lee, who had declined a Biden administration request to house unaccompanied minors weeks ago, says he was not notified of the action. U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty and U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann have sent a letter to the departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services saying they are “deeply troubled” by the lack of transparency and accountability. They also are calling for a halt to the flights and demanding a briefing from the Biden administration, WREG reports. State lawmakers also are speaking out. Several talk to the Tennessee Star. The news comes on the heels of reports in April that unaccompanied minors were being housed at a former Tennessee Temple dormitory in the Highland Park neighborhood of Chattanooga.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has reinstated four lawyers who were placed on inactive status more than five years ago. On May 18, the court reinstated Hawaii lawyer Semmes Hill Bobo, Shelby County lawyer Daniel H. Kiel and Kentucky lawyer Casey Marie Keller. On May 7, the court reinstated Davidson County lawyer Jing Geng.

An investiture ceremony and reception for Charles E. Atchley Jr., U.S. District Court judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee, has been scheduled for Aug. 20. Watch for more details coming soon. Atchley was nominated to the federal bench by then-President Donald Trump in September 2020 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December. He previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

Twitter is all the rage, both in lawyers’ personal and professional lives. But according to the “CLE Performer” Stuart Teicher, whenever lawyers choose to tweet they enter an ethical danger zone. Join Teicher on July 20 at 10 a.m. CDT to learn more about the tricky Twitter traps that can cause ethical headaches. He also will discuss ethics issues with popular platforms TikTok and Zoom. Register here.

Two state court groups — the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators — have launched a national initiative – the Blueprint for Racial Justice – to take immediate and recognizable steps toward improving racial justice, equity and inclusion in the justice system. The blueprint’s goal is to ensure that all court users, litigants and community members across the country are heard, listened to and respected by the nation’s justice system. Resources will include policies, webinars and bench cards to help state court leaders accomplish the goals outlined in the initiative. The steering committee has established four working groups that will focus on the following issues: equity and awareness, systemic change, communication and implementation, and increasing diversity of the bench, bar and workforce.

The Sullivan County Commission has selected Assistant District Attorney Teresa Nelson to replace General Sessions Court Judge J. Klyne Lauderback when he retires at the end of June, the Times News reports. Nelson, who was chosen over Jason Arthur and Timothy Horne, will serve out the remainder of Lauderback's term, which expires on Aug. 31. 2022, before having to stand for election. Nelson has worked at the district attorney’s office for 22 years. She previously was a criminal defense lawyer. She says her first priority on the bench will be tackling the backlog of cases created by the pandemic.

The Nashville Business Journal has released its annual “Best of the Bar” honorees. As part of the awards, the publication has also named Gail Vaughn Ashworth of Wiseman | Ashworth Law Group PLC as the 2021 Lifetime Achievement winner. Ashworth is a former president of the TBA and a founding member of Wiseman | Ashworth, where she practices at the civil and administrative trial and appellate levels as both defense and plaintiff’s counsel. She has practiced civil litigation for nearly four decades in Nashville and is a Tennessee Rule 31 Listed General Civil Mediator. She is currently a member of the TBA’s Dispute Resolution and Tort and Insurance Law sections and is a founder of the TBA Leadership Law program.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery today announced that he has filed a motion to intervene in the Tennessee Justice Center’s (TJC) lawsuit that seeks to undo the approval of the state’s Medicaid block grant. TJC filed the complaint last month against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), arguing, among other things, that the department had exceeded its authority when it approved the project as a Section 1115 experimental waiver. Slatery said his office is intervening in the case “to make sure Tennessee’s unique healthcare infrastructure is appropriately defended.”

Former Pilot Flying J president Mark Hazelwood has filed a 29-page memo alleging Chattanooga Federal Judge Curtis Collier is biased against him and should not preside over his retrial, the Chattanoogan reports. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals voted to overturn Hazelwood’s conviction based on Collier allowing the jury to hear a recording of Hazelwood singing racist songs and using racist banter. In the memo, Hazelwood claims the court “has a personal bias and prejudice” against him and questions the court’s impartiality. Federal officials earlier this month announced that they would retry Hazelwood and two co-defendants next February.