U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday rescinded a Trump-era memo that curtailed the use of consent decrees, which federal prosecutors have used for decades in investigations of police departments and other government agencies. In its place, Garland issued a new memorandum spelling out policies on civil agreements and consent decrees with state and local governments and making it “clear that the Department will use all appropriate legal authorities to safeguard civil rights and protect the environment.” PBS has the story.

The American Bar Association will hold its annual ABA Day virtually this year with two days of programming tomorrow and Wednesday. Sessions will be focused on urging Congress to increase legal aid funding to help low-income people resolve problems resulting from the pandemic, and passing legislation to strengthen judicial security. ABA representatives will be meeting with legislators on Zoom and lawyers across the country are invited to join in these conversations. Training videos on how to be an effective advocate are available online as are briefing materials on the two focus issues. Register here.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland announced today that he has nominated Cerelyn ‘C.J.’ Davis to be the next Memphis Police Department director. Davis, the current police chief in Durham, N.C., would be the first woman to head the department and the first outsider brought in to lead it in decades, the Commercial Appeal reports. If confirmed by the Memphis City Council, she will face a department that has struggled to retain officers and is operating below its budgeted complement. Initial reaction from the council was mixed with some questioning if “an outsider” can effectively manage the department and earn the respect of the community and others raising concerns about the transparency of her selection. Davis spent about three decades with the Atlanta Police Department and then became the chief of the Durham Police Department in 2016.

Savannah Flowers Quintero has joined the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts as its new pro bono coordinator, the office announced today. Quintero comes to the AOC from the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands where she worked as a staff attorney for two years. In her new role, Quintero will work with members of the state’s legal community to expand access to justice in Tennessee. She also will coordinate the work of the Faith and Justice Alliance, which engages faith leaders in the state to provide legal assistance for their congregants. Quintero earned her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. She also has served as a family intervention specialist at Youth Villages in Nashville, a victim advocate for the YWCA of Knoxville and a volunteer at the Sexual Assault Center in Nashville.

The Tennessee Department of Revenue will host a free webinar on sales tax exemptions April 27 at 9 a.m. CDT. The program will cover exemptions for the following goods and services: industrial machinery, research and development, certified green energy facilities and pollution control. Learn more and register here.

Internal correspondence among Tennessee Department of Health officials contrasted with public comments show that the number of “excess” doses found at the Shelby County Health Department were overstated, the Memphis Business Journal reports. The Journal looks at the state and the county’s methodology for determining the excess doses. It also explores the county’s explanation for the excess doses, including that a stockpile intended for teachers was not used because the state did not open up that phase as early as expected, and that other doses went unused due to unanticipated weather issues.

The Tennessee State Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission will hold a virtual event on Friday to discuss America’s reckoning with race. The program will look at America’s long history with race and evaluate that history through the words of the U.S. Supreme Court, evaluate racial buzz phrases, and discuss how best to move toward racial reconciliation. The program is available to all participants in the legal system, including judges, lawyers, court clerks and court personnel, mediators, advocates, law school faculty and law students, court interpreters, court reporters, members of court boards and commissions and other stakeholders. Registration is required but is free. Brooklyn Sawyers Belk, legal counsel for Lyft, will moderate the discussion.

The Tennessee Bar Association is now accepting nominations for its Tennessee Professionalism Award. The Tennessee Professionalism Award is awarded each year to a lawyer or judge whose life and practice display sterling character and unquestioned integrity, coupled with ongoing dedication to the highest standards of the rule of law and the highest standards of the legal profession in Tennessee. The award will be presented to a lawyer or judge residing in the grand division of the state where the TBA's Annual Convention is held (this year, the Western Grand Division). Nominees must be alive when their nomination is submitted but need not be an active member of an American Inn of Court or the TBA. The TBA Annual Convention is scheduled to be held in Memphis and virtually this year the week of June 14. The deadline for submitting nominations is May 3.

Some Tennessee lawmakers want control over when the state should challenge the federal government in court, proposing to remove the solicitor general from the attorney general’s office, giving the position exclusive authority to represent the state in federal court, and making the post accountable to the General Assembly. The new solicitor general would be elected by lawmakers and hold a four-year term., the Tennessean reports. The power to file suit currently rests with the attorney general and reporter's office. The proposal, SB350/HB506, passed the Senate State and Local Government Committee after the sponsor promised to amend it to address some of the concerns expressed. The bill has drawn concerns from Democrats, the attorney general's office and legal experts, who argue the measure could be unconstitutional and lead to inefficiency.

The TBA Corporate Counsel Section will hold its Annual Forum this Wednesday. This year’s four-hour, remote CLE will cover a range of topics including what to expect from the new Biden administration with regard to regulations; labor and employment law updates; using technology to manage a law office; and how COVID-19 is impacting labor and employment, human resources, workplace liability, vaccines and more. Speakers include Adam Dougherty with Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart; Geoffrey Lindley with Rainey, Kizer, Reviere & Bell; and Hemant Sharma from the University of Tennessee.