The Nashville YWCA will host Stand Against Racism: Education in a Time of Crisis on Jan. 26 from noon until 1 p.m. CST. The event will feature a panel of experts from Nashville’s K-12 schools who will examine the dual impact of racism and COVID-19 on youth and how we can build towards an anti-racist future in schools and beyond. The virtual webinar is free to the public.  

Sen. Katrina Robinson, D-Memphis, is facing another round of federal charges for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, the Associated Press reports. The new charges come six-months after Robinson was indicted on federal charges that she stole more than $600,000 in grant money from the health care school she directed to pay for her wedding and honeymoon, a Jeep Renegade for her daughter, her children’s snow cone business and more. She has pleaded not guilty to the original case, which is scheduled for trial on Sept. 13. If convicted, Robinson faces a possible sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison in each case. Robinson would be up for reelection in 2022.

Shelby County attorney Addie Marie Burks on Jan. 15 received a public censure from the Board of Professional Responsibility. Burks received funds from a client’s case in November 2019, but did not distribute the funds until August 2020, when she directly distributed the funds to the client instead of resolving existing medical liens. Burks did not have a written fee agreement for a contingency fee, and she commingled a small portion of her fee with client funds when she failed to timely remove her entire fee from trust. Burks also failed to timely distribute a small amount to a medical provider for over two years in another matter for the same client. She is required to attend the BPR’s Trust Account Workshop in March.

In employment-at-will states like Tennessee, employers are able to make the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory, but a recent article from the Daily Memphian examines several factors involved in making that decision. Burch Porter Johnson attorney Lisa A. Krupicka tells the paper that objections to getting the vaccine without merit could force employers to fire a significant number of employees. “Employers need to think hard about whether requiring the vaccine, versus strongly encouraging the vaccine, is the best way to proceed,” she said. Krupicka says employers might also consider the legalities of an in-house vaccination program and the legal protections employees have under ADA and Civil Rights acts to object on medical or religious grounds to forced vaccination. Attorney and Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s designee to the statewide business reopening task force, Alan Crone, says he can see mandating the shots if a business wants to advertise that all its employees are safe, but adds that there are ramifications to consider on the other side of this “360-degree” problem.

University of Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt was yesterday fired from the program following what his lawyer is now calling an “orchestrated event” focused on "financial convenience and expediency" over fairness, the Tennessean reports. UT hired outside counsel earlier this month to help with an internal investigation of the Vols football program over possible NCAA recruiting violations, which yesterday resulted in the firing of Pruitt and nine other football staff members. Attorney Michael Lyons said he is ready to defend any allegation of wrongdoing by Pruitt “as well as examining the University’s intent to disparage and destroy Coach Pruitt’s reputation in an effort to avoid paying his contractual liquidated damages."

A new analysis of evidence from the Pervis Payne death penalty case shows the DNA of an unidentified male on the handle of the knife used in the crime, the Commercial Appeal reports. Payne’s attorney, Kelley Henry, said today in court that her client’s DNA was found on a different part of the knife, which is consistent with his testimony that he only touched the knife after the crime. The unidentified sample was not complete enough to run through a national database. After reading the new analysis, Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan said the DNA was not enough to exonerate Payne and dismissed his petition. Skahan ruled in September that DNA evidence could be tested, saying if a third party’s DNA were found on multiple items from the crime scene, “the more likely it would appear Mr. Payne did not commit those offenses." Other items tested included a tampon, bloodstained curtains, a pair of glasses and a bloodstained stuffed animal. The defense team will now use the report to prepare a request for clemency to Gov. Bill Lee.

Davidson County Juvenile Court Judge Sheila Calloway is urging Metro Council members to fund a $130 million new juvenile detention center, describing deplorable conditions in the facility where she holds court, the Tennessean reports. Calloway told the council about plumbing and other infrastructure deficiencies at the Davidson County Juvenile Detention Center, including “raw sewage explosions” that have flooded the hallways and leaked into the ceiling panels and carpet of her courtroom. Additionally, the court has outgrown the building, which officials say was designed too small ahead of its opening in 1994. A master plan for a new facility was created in 2017 under former Mayor Megan Barry but stalled due to political turnover. A spokesperson for Mayor John Cooper said it’s “too early” to comment on whether the mayor will address the facility in his upcoming budget.

The Tennessee Democratic Party on Saturday elected Hendrell Remus as the new party chair, the Nashville Post reports. Remus, vice chair of the Tennessee Young Democrats, is the first Black leader of the organization according to the group. An assistant emergency operations officer at Tennessee State University, Remus has previously run, unsuccessfully, for local and state offices in Memphis. He takes over from Mary Mancini. The House and Senate Democratic caucuses supported Wade Munday for the chairmanship. Munday, a former state Senate candidate, finished second in the voting. A few weeks ago, state Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, dropped out of the race according to Tennessee Lookout. Two other candidates — Kate Craig and Robin Kimbrough Hayes — dropped out on Saturday after the first round.

Earlier this month, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts announced there was an apparent compromise of the federal judiciary’s case management/electronic filing system. The potential breach seems to have been related to the SolarWinds hack that infiltrated more than half a dozen federal agencies. As a result of the apparent hack, the office is now requiring all “highly sensitive documents” be filed in paper form or through a secure electronic device. While it is not yet clear what documents may have been compromised, Bloomberg News reports they could include a variety of sensitive materials, from companies’ sales figures, contracts and product plans, to psychiatric, financial or medical information in criminal cases, and healthcare information for litigants in ongoing cases.

Legal experts, survivors and advocates will explore the legal issues surrounding the “troubled teen industry” in a free webinar series from the American Bar Association. The first program in the series, “Youth in Congregate Care: Far from Home, Far from Safe,” will take place Thursday from 1 to 3 p.m. EST. The series is designed to shed light on regulatory failures, current initiatives and survivor stories. Learn more or register here.