Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan is expected to make a ruling on Sept. 16 on whether DNA evidence in the Pervis Payne case will be tested, the Daily Memphian reports. Payne was convicted for the 1987 double homicide of a Millington woman and her young daughter and has been on death row for three decades. Skahan heard testimony on Tuesday from Payne’s defense team, who say the DNA testing could prove his innocence. “We are not here to retry this case,” federal public defender Kelly Henry said Tuesday. “We can get the DNA tested without any cost to the taxpayers thanks to the Innocence Project, who is willing to foot the bill for the testing.” DNA expert Alan Keel also testified at the hearing, saying DNA technology has drastically improved since 2006, the last time Payne’s attorneys submitted a petition for testing. The hearing comes after a Memphis coalition urged District Attorney General Amy Weirich to permit the testing. Payne is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 3.

Former Metro Public Defender Dawn Deaner this week filed a lawsuit in federal district court against Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Cheryl Blackburn and the Board of Professional Responsibility, the Nashville Post reports. Deaner, who now runs the nonprofit Choosing Justice Initiative, met with a criminal defendant seeking new representation last fall and afterward filed a request on his behalf in Blackburn’s court. That filing led to a hearing where Blackburn accused Deaner of ethical violations since the defendant was already being represented by then-court-appointed attorney Anthony Thompson. Blackburn and Thompson, who claimed Deaner’s actions “assailed” his name and reputation, both reported the incident to the BPR. The board began disciplinary proceedings against Deaner, ultimately giving her the option of completing three hours of ethics training to avoid discipline. Deaner disputed the board’s ruling in a separate filing, and this week is asking the federal district court in Nashville to enjoin the BPR from disciplining her. A Washington, D.C-based attorney representing Deaner commented on the case, saying, "the problem of retaliation against defense attorneys who attempt to challenge injustice in the criminal justice system is unfortunately very widespread.”

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP attorney and TBA member Alé Dalton has been selected for the Hispanic National Bar Association’s 2020 Latina Leadership Academy. According to a press release from Bradley, the Latina Leadership Academy offers leadership training on areas that are key to shattering glass ceilings and securing the advancement and long-term success of Latina attorneys. Dalton earned her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law and is a member of Bradley’s Healthcare Practice Group. She was a member of the TBA’s Diversity Leadership Institute Class of 2016 and is a member of the Health Law Section and the Young Lawyers Division. In a 2018 interview with Bradley, Dalton said one of her passions was increasing diversity in the legal profession, especially for women of color. “Latinas represent less than 2% of the total U.S. lawyer population and are the most statistically underrepresented attorney group in nearly every legal sector,” she said. “While the numbers are improving, there is a lot of work to be done.”

It’s election season and the TBA is offering a free Voting Rights Roundtable for members to discuss the process and historical significance of election laws and regulations. Executive Director of the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance Ethics Commission Bill Young and LMU Duncan School of Law professor Akram Fazier will host a two-part discussion on the past and present of voting, elections and ethics, including, federal voting rights jurisprudence, Tennessee jurisprudence and constitutional text on the issue and campaign finance disclosure. Join the virtual discussion from 10 until 11 a.m. CDT on Sept. 10. The roundtable is free and open to all TBA members.

The 2020 Labor & Employment Law Forum Lunchtime Webcast Series launches Sept. 14 with a case law update. Day two of the series continues on Sept. 15 with a session on workplace privacy.  Memphis lawyers Greg Grisham and Maureen Holland will address topics like employee surveillance, workplace searches, the monitoring of employee communications, dress code and appearance policies, drug and alcohol testing, and much more. Join your colleagues from noon to 1 p.m. CDT for a review of recent cases and legal developments impacting the world of employment law. Other offerings in the series include sessions on wage and hour developments on Sept. 16; arbitration on Sept. 17; and a judicial panel on best practices on Sept. 18. Registration is per webcast and each program provides one hour of general credit CLE.

A petition filed with the Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday asks the court to reconsider its decision on July 21 to reject a request from 2020 bar examination applicants to waive the bar exam requirement and grant diploma privilege. The court said at the time it did not believe the measure was in the interest of the public and the administration of justice. The new petition, brought on behalf of a 2020 Mississippi College School of Law graduate, argues that events since the July ruling now “raise series questions about whether the current plan for administering an online Admission Assessment is fair to applicants and likely to actually test in any meaningful way whether those taking the examination have the skills necessary to practice law, serve the public well, and avoid harm.”

The Trump administration issued an order late yesterday banning landlords from evicting tenants from properties they can no longer afford to rent due to income lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Hill reports. The order would make it illegal to evict any individual who expects to make less than $99,000 or a couple that expects to make less than $198,000 this year. In order to qualify for protection, a tenant must declare their 2020 income will fall below the threshold; they have sought all potential sources of federal housing aid; and they cannot afford to pay rent due to a pandemic-related job loss or expense despite best efforts.

A coalition of political and voting rights organizations sued the state in federal court on Friday over a law making it a felony for anyone other than an election official to give absentee ballot request forms to voters. The groups claim the law violates their free speech by restricting the manner in which they can engage and encourage the voting public, Tennessee Lookout reports. The groups are asking the court to declare the law unconstitutional and block the secretary of state and administrator of elections from enforcing it.

A new pilot program aimed at keeping homeless individuals from cycling in and out of jail launches Friday in Nashville, the Tennessean reports. The court will be presided over by General Sessions Judge Lynda Jones. Proceedings will be held at Room in the Inn, a local homeless shelter. Jones says individuals experiencing homelessness are often charged with low-level offenses such as public intoxication, trespassing and obstruction of a passageway — charges that would not apply to those who have access to housing. The new court will offer people the chance to wipe certain minor charges from their record if they engage with local service providers. But unlike other specialty courts, defendants will not be required to complete a specific program of treatment. The court is modeled on a free legal clinic the Nashville office of Baker Donelson has operated at the shelter for years.

As schools navigate reopening during a pandemic, some state lawmakers will return to Nashville this month to hear updates and demand answers, the Tennessean reports. The House Education Committee is set to meet Sept. 22 and 23. Topping the agenda is the approach Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn is taking to re-openings as well as a failed rollout of a student wellness check program. The Professional Educators of Tennessee, a nonpartisan teacher association, suggested lawmakers might even seek a "no confidence" vote on the commissioner. The group does not support such a move but has its own list of complaints.