Rep. David Byrd, R-Waynesboro, who was hospitalized over the weekend due to complications from COVID-19, might be put on a ventilator due to his low oxygen levels, the Associated Press reports. “I really need a miracle today!! My doctor said if my oxygen level doesn’t improve then he has no choice but to put me on a ventilator,” Byrd wrote in a post on his Facebook page. Byrd attended the House GOP caucus meeting on Nov. 24 when the nearly 70-member group reelected legislative leaders. He also participated in a House GOP overnight retreat the weekend prior.

Prosecutors in Germany have stopped their investigation into former Nazi concentration camp guard Friedrich Karl Berger due to lack of evidence, the Associated Press reports. Berger, who has been living in the United States since 1959, admitted to serving as a concentration camp guard, but denied seeing any abuse or killings. German prosecutors said they are unable to refute his account and have now shelved the case against him. Berger, who is 95, still faces potential deportation after a Memphis-based immigration judge ordered him to be removed from the U.S. earlier this year. 

Loans totaling more than $48.8 million were given to Davidson County law firms through the Paycheck Protection Program, according to recently released U.S. Small Business Administration data and reported by the Nashville Business Journal. Six firms received loans for more than $1 million, including Waller LLP, which received the largest loan in the amount of $9.5 million. Of the 393 Nashville law firms gaining loan approval, 50 firms received more than $150,000, the second most of any industry in Nashville, next to full-service restaurants.

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the nominations of Chuck Atchley and Katherine Crytzer to serve as U.S. District Court Judges for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the Chattanoogan reports. At their confirmation hearing last month, outgoing Sen. Lamar Alexander spoke highly of the two nominees. “The Senate should confirm judicial nominees with good character, good temperament, high intelligence and a high respect for the law. Mr. Atchley and Ms. Crytzer possess these qualities,” he said. Atchley has worked nearly 20 years in the federal court system in East Tennessee. Crytzer’s confirmation makes her only the second woman to ever be a federal district judge for the Eastern District.

U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger has blocked a bail-holding practice utilized by Nashville courts after finding that it violated the Eighth Amendment, the Tennessean reports. The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, acting on behalf of the nonprofit Nashville Community Bail Fund, sued Davidson County Criminal Court Clerk Howard Gentry earlier this year over the rule that required defendants and their families to agree that any bail money posted could be held and seized as payment of court fees that have not yet been set. Trauger approved an agreement from both parties that extends a preliminary injunction filed in March, making it permanent. The order said the rule violates the Eighth Amendment’s excessive bail clause. Gentry has been outspoken in his disagreement with the rule. “I consider it almost a crime to expect to fund the criminal justice system off the backs of poor people,” he said.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has settled a split of authority in the Court of Appeals about the interpretation of a statute authorizing termination of parental rights. The high court held that the statute authorizes termination of parental rights upon clear and convincing proof that a parent or guardian failed to manifest, by act or omission, either an ability or willingness to personally assume legal and physical custody or financial responsibility for a child and that placing the child in the parent’s legal and physical custody would pose a risk of substantial harm to the physical or psychological welfare of the child. Read more about the case and the Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion on the Administrative Office of the Courts website.

The Tennessee Faith and Justice Alliance will host the Legal Access for All Summit on Dec. 15 at 3 p.m. CST. The program will focus on challenges faced by those with language and documentation barriers when trying to access free legal resources and what interpreters and volunteer attorneys can do to help. The Faith and Justice Alliance, in collaboration with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, Tennessee Justice for our Neighbors, the Tennessee Supreme Court Access to Justice Initiative and others hope to show attendees the role they can play in helping community members find the legal help they need. Register here for the program which will be held via Zoom.

Belmont University College of Law has promoted TBA member Debbie Farringer to serve as its Associate Dean for Academic Affairs & Associate Professor of Law. Farringer, who has been with the law school since 2013, currently serves as the director of Health Law Studies and has taught a variety of courses, including Health Law, Health Care Business and Finance, Health Law Fraud and Abuse, Bioethics and Mental Health Law. Her scholarship explores the operation and impact of health laws and health policy on providers and suppliers, with a special emphasis on the unique challenges facing the health care industry in the area of cybersecurity. She is also the faculty supervisor for the Belmont Health Law Journal and coaches the health law transactions moot court team. Farringer is also chair of the board of directors of the Tennessee Justice Center, a member of the TBA’s Health Law Section and was part of the TBA Leadership Law Class of 2016.

The Juvenile and Children's Law section virtual program Homeboy: An Inside Perspective of a Youth's Transition Through the System is now available to view online. During the program, Assistant Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Tennessee Jawara Griffin speaks on his journey through the juvenile system and his belief that every human being has the right to competent and effective legal representation, regardless of their socio-economic status.

Two courtrooms in Nashville will be closed temporarily and staff encouraged to isolate and get tested for the coronavirus after an individual in Tennessee Department of Correction custody with COVID-19 was at the Justice A.A. Birch Building today, the Tennessean reports. The affected courtrooms are those of criminal court judges Monte D. Watkins and Mark J. Fishburn. According to the court administrator, no court staff had been in contract with the individual without masks, but the court was being "overly cautious" in response to the exposure.